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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



PRIMAL MAN; 



SCIENCE OF 



SELF-CONTROL, 



PSYCHOLOGY, 



A N 1) 



VI KS N/[ KRIS ]\/[ . 



B. BROWN WILLIAMS, M. 1). 



JAN 131887^3 



xMEADVlLLE, PA.: 
TKlJiUNE PFBLISHING COMPAXV, 



1887. 



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'l^^^M 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by 

B. BRC^WN WILLIAMS, M. D., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



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TO R. J. GIBBONS, M. D., 

BECAUSE OF OUR ACQUAINTANCE AND FRIENDSHIP 
FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS ; 

THE GOOD YOU HAVE DONE 

As A Lecturer upon, and a Teacher of, the Subject-Matter 
Of this Work; 

AND THE DEEP INTEREST TAKEN IN ITS PUBLICATION, 

To You it is Respectfully Dedicated by 



The Author. 



CONTENTS, 



Introduction 5 

Chapter I. 

Man as a Material and Psychological Entity 11 

Chapter II. 

Primal Man 25 

Chapter III. 

Psychic Man 34 

Chapter IV. 

Gospel of Self-Control 44 

Chapter V. 

Gospel of Self-Control, Continued 54 

Chapter VI. 

How to Acquire Self-Control 64 

Chapter VII. 

Use and Abuse of the Power of Concentration 76 

Chapter VIII. 

Method of Will Culture for Children. ; . . . . 91 

Chapter IX. 

Experimental Psychology ; 104 

Chapter X. 

Mesmerism and Clairvoyance 118 

Chapter XI. 

Maternal Impressions, and Other Mysteries 133 



LNTRODUCTION. 



^F'T is not the object of this work to discuss the 
\M) theories of others in ree^ard to the interesting: 
subjects of physical aild* mental culture. These sub- 
jects have, from time immemorial, been the cause of 
collisions of earnest thought between the master 
minds of ages past, as well as those of the progressive 
present. Nor is it through lack of respect that we 
refrain from referring to authors upon these and kin- 
dred subjects. We prefer to present our thoughts and 
conclusions untrammeled, and upon their own merits, 
that the intelligent reader may be able to accept them 
for what they are worth. 

The conclusions arrived at, by years of investigation, 
study, and practice, will be presented after our own 
method of thought, with such corroborative evidence 
as has been obtained from the great laboratory of 
truth upheld and supported by the Infinite Hand. 
With such evidence of the truth of our theories, 
although they are diametrically opposite to the influ- 
ential teachings of the day, v/e hope that we shall be 
able to convince the unbiased and progressive thinker 
and that we shall perhaps be able, notwithstanding the 
advance of skepticism, to add to the practical resources 
of physical, intellectual, and moral progress. 

In presenting the relationship sustained by self-con- 



6 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

trol, as taught by psychology, to physical, mental and 
Christian progress, we do not desire to attack any 
particular creed, theory, or denomination, but shall be 
guided by the inflexible laws which govern the soul 
and body, as we understand them. 

While we consider the subject-matter' herein con- 
tained, from our standpoint, to approximate truths 
that are self-evident, we cannot expect such favorable 
consideration from others, froiti the fact that it is equally 
as difficult, in the psychological nature of things, for 
the reader who has already formed and expressed an 
opinion from a different standpoint, to sit as an impar- 
tial juror and decide at once, from the evidence 
presented, as it would be for him, under like conditions 
of mind, to sit as juror and decide the .question of life 
and death between a prisoner at the bar and the State. 
We hope, however, to awaken a subjective interest in 
the cultivation of the hitherto neglected but rich fields 
in the valley of the soul, which now are budding and 
blooming, fruitfully, with thorns and thistles that 
prick and sting the hearts of men. 

While science has reached its intellectual arm far 
into the domain of the apparently unknowable, and 
utilized things heretofore undeveloped in the train of 
objective usefulness ; yet, in the subjective domain of 
self-culture, comparatively little progress has been 
made. We travel from place to place with greater 
ease, pleasure, and rapidity than our fathers. Micro- 
scopic improvements reveal to us the infinitesimal 
wonders of the world. The increased power of the 
t elescope has extended astronomical vision into wider 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 7 

fields of celestial research ; yet, amid all this progress, 
Godlike man, subjectively, moves still in paths almost 
as dark with superstition as those trodden by his 
fathers. 

Facts may perhaps demonstrate the reason of this. 
In the systematic order of creation the laws by which 
the electrical system of nature is governed could not 
have been understood in the utilization of electricity 
for practical purposes, except by instrumentally experi- 
menting with it. The occult nature of electricity, 
confounded as it is with light, heat, etc., forbids the 
successfnl exercise of any speculative quality of the 
mind in its investigation. If man had not succeeded 
in constructing instruments wherewith to penetrate 
the electrical realm and bring into practical operation 
the laws which govern there, he could never have 
utilized electricity for the accomplishment of the great 
results now obtained by its employment. 

We hold that ^the something in man that rea- 
sons and thinks, recognized as the soul, is still far- 
ther removed from gross matter, systematically, than 
electricity. If the electrical laws could not be under- 
stood without instrumental experiment, it is not 
strange that the more occult laws that govern the rea- 
soning, thinking and feeling department in man's 
economy can be but imperfectly comprehended with- 
out experiment. 

The constructive wisdom of man being unable to 
make an instrument with which to penetrate the psy- 
chological realm and bring a response to the laws that 
govern there, science is compelled to avail itself of the 



8 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

nervous system, which is, in fact, the only instrument 
that can penetrate the mystic realm of the soul and 
respond intelligibly. Science must utilize the nervous 
system in the study of psychological laws, just as 
electricians do mechanical instruments in the study of 
electrical laws, if the real object is progress in intel- 
lectual and moral life. Able and earnest minds have, 
in their solitary musings, reconnoitered round the 
palace which contains the mystic throne of the soul ; 
but, having no key to practically unlock its doors, 
have returned with conjectural reports only concern- 
ing it and the laws by which it is governed. Until the 
laws of the soul are comprehended, as are those of 
other departments of science, Godlike progress is im- 
possible. 

The consecutive aton^ic disturbances of the nerve 
fluid, or force, within the folds of the nerves and brain, 
is the only means that can be utilized in obtaining a 
practical knowledge of the laws that appertain to a 
truthful and progressive psychology. The theories 
which have, from time to time, been advanced for the 
dispositional direction of the race, although they may 
have been pleasing to the imagination and popular in 
their day, were practically deffective ; else the thorns 
and thistles in the path of progress would have dis- 
appeared and given place to that subjective psycho- 
logical harmony which should be characteristic of the 
Godlike nature of man. Hitherto discussions of 
the operation of the laws that govern the soul have 
served rather to deepen the mystery of their oper- 
ations, than to elucidate them. It is our object to 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 9 

explain the practical teachings of the nervous system, 
its nature and relation to man's psychological and 
physical activities, and to show the necessity of obedi- 
ence to its laws as an indispensable means for the 
development of the higher nature of man. 

We propose to demonstrate, in this work, the follow- 
ing propositions : 

First. *'There is a natural body and there is a spiritual 
body." 

Second. The natural body is a material entity, or or- 
ganization, with the brain as its center, and the body its 
circumference. The spiritual body is a psychological 
entity, or organization, with the mind as its center, 
and the soul its circumference. 

Third, The nerve force is, systematically, the force 
and life of the material body, and underlies all its physi- 
cal activities. Thought force is, systematically, the spirit 
force and life of the spiritual body, and underlies all 
mental activities. 

Fourth. The soul, or spiritual body, would, in its na- 
ture, be as imperfect, inert and motionless, void of its 
thought or spirit force, as the body would be void of 
its nerve force. 

Fifth. The nerve force is the enabling force of the 
body, and the thought force is the enabling force of 
the soul. 

Sixth. The constructive blending of the nerve force 
and thought force into one, is the vital force in man's 



lO THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

economy which mystically unites soul and body into 
one organization or entity. 

Seventh. The thought force, or spirit of the soul, is the 
positive controlling force ; and the nerve force, or spirit 
of the body, the negative force. 

Eighth. The force of the soul, thought, differs from all 
other forces, in that it is so subtile in its nature that the 
presence of an object produces a change in its form 
Avithout perceptible contact. 

Ninth. There is an inflexible law of gravitation which 
obtains in the realm of the soul, dispositionally, with 
the same unerring certainty as that which obtains in 
the realm of matter. 

Tenth. Whatever produces, for the time being, the 
greatest change in the tJiought or spirit force, controls 
and directs the feelings and actions of human beings. 

EleveJtth. Man can never become like his Creator ; but 
may approximate, finitely, His perfection, in that he 
may acquire will power of sufficient strength to enable 
him to produce, subjectively, changes in his own 
thought, or spirit force, at pleasure, of as marked a 
character as those often produced upon him, in the 
daily walks of life, by circumstances. ' 

Tzvelfth. Original sin, or the fall of man, was the vol- 
untary surrender of the spiritual virtue and strength ot 
the will, and a voluntary effort in accordance with the * 
spirit and example of Him who said, ''Get thee behind 
me," is a necessity in the moral, physical and reUgious 
reformation of the hurnan race. 



CHAPTER 1 



MAN AS A MATERIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ENTITY. 

^HAT man is the highest manifestation of cre- 
ative energy, is self-evident. He has a mental 
and physical organization that is significant of all that 
is below him. He is, therefore, the most perfect prod- 
uct of the universe. He is a dual being, with two 
natures, mental and physical; the one a product of the 
psychological world, the other a product of the mate- 
rial world. The systematic organization of man 
corresponds to' the systematic organization of the 
universe of which he is a part. His osseous or bony 
system corresponds to that of the terrestrial or earthy 
system ; his circulating or fluid system, to that of the 
aqueous ; his lungs or respiratory system, to that of 
the atmospheric ; his nervous system to that of the 
electrical ; and his mental system, to that of the psy- 
chological or invisible world. These different systems 
of man are held intact, nourished and sustained by the 
corresponding systems of the universe of which they 
are products. 

The waste of the osseous, or bony system, is, in the 
economy of things, supplied from the constituents of 
the earthy ; the circulating from the aqueous ; the res- 
piratory from the atmospheric. The nervous system 



12 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

is just as certainly supplied from the electric, and the 
mental and spiritual from the psychological. These five 
systems of man are, therefore, significant of the five 
systems of the universe upon which man is dependent 
for his sustenance. The one blending with the other, 
as they blend in the universe, into one harmonious 
whole. It is not in the nature of things for the coarser 
to enter into the finer ; but on through the earthy, the 
aqueous, the atmospheric, the electric and the psychic 
or spiritual, the finer constituents of each system 
permeates and blends with the coarser : hence the 
omnipresence, in some form, of the electric and 
psychic spirit throughout the universe in all manifes- 
tations of life and power. These are the primordial 
forces of creation which are organized* into the bodies 
and souls of men, in a finite sense, as their primal 
forces. 

The body of man is an organization with the brain 
as its central source of life and power, as such it 
is the highest product of the material world. Just as 
certainly is the soul, with the mind as its central source 
of life and power a product of the psychological 
world. The manifest activities of the primal forces in 
man — his electric or nerve force, and his thought or 
spirit force — logically uphold the theory of the duality 
of his organization. There cannot be a well defined 
line of distinction drawn between the mind and soul, 
any more than there can be between the brain and 
body. The mind is a part of the soul, as the brain is 
a part of the body. We know that the body could 
not manifest its great variety of physical activities but 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 3 

for the brain, its central source of life and power. 
The thought or spirit force manifests a still greater 
variety of activities, in the inner life of man, than the 
nerve force does in the outer. Just as a physical or- 
ganization is necessary to the manifestation of the 
body those of the soul could not occur except through 
a psychological organization. The indications are 
that just as the body is organized from the constitu- 
ents of the material world, so the soul is organized 
from the constituents of the psychological world ; 
body and soul apparently blended as one. 

We may demonstrate, perhaps, by explaining the 
method by which body and soul are nourished and 
sustained by the respective systems of the universe. 
The stomach and lungs are adapted to the reception 
of food, water and air ; from which sources of nature 
supplies are drawn to make good the waste of the 
osseous, circulating, and respiratory s}'stems of the 
body. There is also provision made for the supply of 
the nerve waste, and this method of supply, not being 
generally understood, needs to be fully explained. 

Since the extended discoveries in microscopical 
science, experts in that department of culture inform 
us that a grain of sand placed upon the surface of the 
body will cover one hundred and fifty scales, as plainly 
visible under the microscope as are the scales of a 
fish to the naked eye. Each scale covers over five 
hundred little mouths or openings into the body. The 
expansion and contraction of these little mouths im- 
ply that they have a vital function. Since they are 
too fine in their nature to avail anything as to an 



14 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

influx of the atmosphere or gases into the body, we 
must explore a finer element in search of their use. 
To assert that these myriads of infinitesimal mouths, 
so marvelously constructed, exist without a vital pur- 
pose, would be to ignore, theoretically, the harmony 
indicated by the adaptation of the lungs and stomach 
to their corresponding systems in nature, and to leave 
the sustaining chain of life which links the body to its 
higher sources of development and recuperation, in- 
complete. That it is the vital function of these 
myriads of mouths to inspire the crude electricity of 
the atmosphere, which is converted into nerve force 
to supply the nerve waste, is as plain as that the lungs 
inspire atmosphere. 

The brain and spinal column, as well as the nerve 
centers, have been consulted from time immemorial, 
by scientists, in their efforts to find from whence the 
nerve waste was supplied, and how the supply was 
generated during sleep or repose. The doubt and dif- 
ference of opinion upon this important subject, is evi- 
dence that they have not found a satisfactory answer 
to their inquiries. Science, however, rests itself upon 
the conjectural hypothesis that the brain, aided by the 
spinal column, lungs, and nerve centers, by some mystic 
process during sleep, generates the nerve supply. The 
existence of the electrical element is as strongly evi- 
denced in nature by the lightning's flash and the 
thunder's roar, as is the atmospheric by gales and 
tornadoes. It exists as a source of sustenance and re- 
cuperation just as the other elements in nature do, and 
scientific research must extend beyond the atmosphere 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 5 

to find the source of nerve supply. It is true that the 
water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, 
are all collateral or general sources of nerve supply; 
but the crude electricity of the atmosphere, which is 
inspired by the myriads of infinitesimal mouths of the 
surface, is the special source. 

Experiment has demonstrated the fact that the res- 
piratory system absorbs double the amount of oxygen 
during the hours when both body and mind are at rest, 
that it does when both are in a state of activity. It 
is equally true that the influx of crude electricity into 
the body through the mouths of the surface, is posi- 
tive, or more, during sleeping hours or when in a state 
of self-control when awake ; negative, or less, while 
performing our daily labor or during a state of excite- 
ment. Drowsiness, or the desire for sleep, is only a 
natural hunger for nerve supply, just as the desire for 
water is the hunger of the circulating system for fluid 
supply. The mode by which nature administers to the 
circulating system is very simple, and the conditions 
demanded for supplying its waste by the administration 
of fluids, is well understood. The conditions necessary 
to the administration of the crude electricity of the 
atmosphere for supplying the nerve waste, are just as 
simple and easy of comprehension. It is necessary 
that thought shall retire from the cerebrum or con- 
scious domain, in order that the plus amount of nerve 
force, attracted to the brain by thought, may distribute 
itself throughout the body, and open and shut the in- 
finitesimal mouths of the surface ; thus enabling them 



l6 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

to inspire the crude electricity which is their natuaal 
source of supply. 

Many doubt that the nerve fluid is another form of 
electricity. If it were possible to invent an instru- 
ment that would surcharge the atmosphere in which a 
person was asleep, or in a state of passivity, this elec- 
tricity, blended as it would be with the atmosphere, 
might be as easily inspired by the mouths of the 
surface as the electricity of the atmosphere. It would 
also be as recuperative a source of supply. Electricity 
evolved by the chemical action of instruments, and 
passed directly through flesh, blood, and bones, from the 
positive to the negative pole, in a concentrated mechan- 
cal form, cannot be inspired and converted into nerve 
force by the nervous system. The body, insulated and 
charged from an electric machine, gives off, to other 
bodies that may come in contact with it, the electricity 
it receives. This, shows that the electricity thus re- 
ceived is not converted into nerve force, for after it is 
so converted it cannot be parted with in this manner. 

Some may object to this theory of nerve supply, on 
the ground that crude electricity and nerve force are 
not identical. To such objections we would say, 
neither are the bones and muscles identicalh^ the same 
as the food we eat and the water we drink. Who will 
deny the digestive and assimilative systems the inher- 
ent power to change food into bone and muscle ? It 
would be just as illogical and unscientific to deny that 
the brain, aided by the spine and nerve centers, has 
the inherent power to change the crude electricity in- 
spired by the surface into nerve fluid or force. Nerve 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1/ 

force is as certainly another form of crude electricity, 
as bone and muscle are other forms of the food we eat 
and the water we drink. As the body would, in the 
nature of things, be imperfect, inert and motionless 
without the nerve force, it is plain that it is a part of 
the body, and that it is systematically its inductive en- 
abling force, or the life force of the body. 

The material world from which the body is extracted 
and sustained, is an organization with the sun as its 
central source of life and power; so also is the living, 
material body an organization with the brain as its 
central source of life and power. As our mother earth 
is dependent upon the sun's rays for her life and beauty, 
so is every part of the circumference of the body de- 
pendent upon the nerve force, emanating from the 
brain, for its activity and health. In the electrical sys- 
tem of the universe we find the inductive, enabling 
force and life of the material world; and in the nervous 
system, which is fed from the electrical, the enabling 
and life force of the body. As none of the functions 
of the brain or body can take place without the co- 
operative aid of the nerve force — as the mind cannot 
think without it, the importance of the nervous sys- 
tem in man's economy cannot be too well understood 
or too highly appreciated. The necessity of obedience 
to the laws which connect the nervous system with its 
natural source of nourishment, is essential to human 
welfare, and cannot be too strongly impressed. 

The first garment, then, with which nature en- 
virons the soul, and chains it to earth by the law of 
gravitation, is electricity, in the form of nerve force; 



1 8 THE SCIENCE OF SELP^-CONTROL. 

the second, is the brain and nervous system itself; the 
third, the respiratory system; the fourth, the circu- 
lating system; the fifth, the osseous or bony system. 
The fact that we cannot hold converse with this some- 
thing in the body which thinks and reasons, except by 
and through the consecutive atomic disturbances of 
the nerve fluid within the folds of the brain and nerv- 
ous system, exists as one of nature's truths, independ- 
ent of belief or disbelief. For example: If we take a 
skeleton and strike it, although its atomic particles 
may be consecutively disturbed from the point of con- 
tact with the rod to its center, there is no response, 
and we find that the soul is not systematically just be- 
yond the osseous or bony system. If the circulating 
and muscular systems be constructively added to the 
osseous, and the same experiment be performed again, 
there is yet no response. If the respiratory system, 
in turn, be constructively added and the experiment 
repeated, still there is no response. If the brain and 
nervous system, in turn, be constructively blended, 
although the particles of the whole body may be 
atomically disturbed, from the point pressed or struck, 
to the center, there is no response still. Therefore, 
even this infinitesimal agitation of the' particles of the 
body does not reach the residence of the soul. But if 
the brain and nerves are naturally charged with the 
nerve fluid or force, then the atomic disturbance of the 
nerve fluid or force shows a different result. At the 
moment of physical contact, something responds : I 
feel! So it is plain that the nerve fluid or force, thus 
set in motion by physical contact, is the only messen- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I9 

ger that can reach the soul and bring from it a re- 
sponse. 

That a man thinks and reasons, is as self-evident as 
that his body moves. In consulting the physical ac- 
tivities, we have found that they could not take place 
except through an organization or entity having the 
brain as its center, and that this organization is a per- 
fect counterpart of the material world of which it is a 
product. If the great variety of physical activities 
could not occur except through a visible organization, 
neither could the still greater variety of mental activi- 
ties occur except through a psychological or invisible 
organization. The only method by which the finite 
mind can approximate the comprehension of things 
infinite, is by comparing them with finite things. The 
things we see must instruct us truthfully in regard to 
the things we cannot see. The physical activities of 
the body declare that there is a more perfect organiza- 
tion or entity blended with the body which is the cause 
of man's mental activities. This is the spiritual or- 
ganization of which the mind is the center and the 
soul the circumference — the spiritual body spoken of 
by St. Paul — and it is as plain to our mental vision 
as the material body is to the sense of sight. We are 
conscious that the presence which looks out from the 
windows of the soul, is an individualized spiritual en- 
tity. We know it, see it, feel it with the psychological 
senses. We are assured that it is just as much its 
nature to think and reason, as it is the nature of the 
muscles of the brain and body to relax and contract. 
God has placed the soul in a little material world 



20 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

called the body, through which and with which it 
manifests its activities as a real psychological entity, 
and is nourished and sustained by what we shall call 
the psychic spirit. 

The universe is full of motional activity and life. As 
motion implies force, there must be a something in the 
universe of God so subtile that its very nature is mo- 
tion. Electricity, which is the most subtile element in 
the realm of matter, requires extraneous force to put 
it in motion. It stands poised, as it were, between 
things material and psychological, requiring but the 
slightest physical touch, when collected in a leyden jar, 
to set it going ; but as this touch is necessary, it points 
to a still more subtile force, having the power of self- 
motion. Thought changes its form, or .is set in motion 
simply by the presence ®f an object, without percepti- 
ble contact. It does not require even this objective 
influence, for it has the inherent power of self-motion. 
The existence of this thought or spirit force in man, 
indicates the existence of a sustaining source of nour- 
ishment for this force. This we have in that subtile 
source of life., God's omnipresent, emanating spirit ; 
which, when the necessary conditions are complied 
with, is incorporated into 'the system of the soul, as 
electricity is into the nervous system. This all-per- 
vading spirit force permeates the universe, underlies 
and sustains all life, visible and invisible. It is the 
crowning perfection of all forces, the primordial source 
of all existences ; for though the lower systems each 
have their respective systematic sources, all are refera- 
ble to and dependent upon it. Thus " God is all and 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 21 

in all," and yet a personal God, the emanations from 
whose presence prove His existence. Step by step, 
nature reveals the sustaining sources of individual ex- 
istence ; step by step, asserts the personality of these 
existences up to the great All Source of motion, life 
and power. 

The thought, or spirit force, and the nerve force, are 
the two primal forces in man. The thought force 
stimulates all the faculties of the mind and soul, just 
as the nerve force does the organs of the brain and 
body. The one, the spirit and life of the soul, is the 
subjective cause, as its source, of all mental and moral 
manifestations ; the other is the spirit and life of the 
body, and the subjective cause, as its force, of all 
physical manifestations. The mystic blending of these 
two forces unites soul and body in the form of man. 

The psychic spirit is the universal, omnipresent 
spirit, blending with the electrical apparently as one. 
Being more rarefied and pure than all things else, in 
accordance with the inflexible law that causes the finer 
to permeate the coarser, it necessarily blends with, 
and in some form pervades everything. 

This psychic spirit, blending as it does with the elec- 
trical, becomes a constituent, in some form, of the 
food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we 
breathe. Through the processes of digestion and as- 
similation, like goes to like : the iron and lime in the 
food to the osseous system ; the fluids to the circulating 
system ; the electricity to the nervous system ; and the 
psychic spirit to the psychic system. Animals, in 
common with man, eat, drink, breathe, and sleep ; con- 



22 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

sequently nature administers thus far, in the formula of 
hfe, to all her creatures according to the measure of 
their being. Further than this, the distribution of the 
spirit force is governed by the psychological develop- 
ment. In animals, the manifestation of the spirit force, 
is called Instinct ; in Tnan, Reason. In both it is de- 
rived from the same source, the universal psychic 
spirit ; but as the soul of man has a larger number of 
faculties, it necessarily absorbs more psychological life. 
The mind of man has faculties which enable him to ab- 
stract general ideas, to consciously feel and comprehend 
his individual responsibility. He has the faculties of 
hope, sublimity and veneration. These higher faculties, 
when in a positive state of activity, condition him for 
the influx of the psychic spirit, in a higher and more 
direct sense than that which is received through the 
media of the physical alone. Animals being deficient 
in these higher faculties of the soul, are not, by the 
nature of their psychological development, adapted to 
an equal influx of psychological life, with man. Hence, 
there are no special conditions imposed upon them by 
which they may obtain it, for the obvious reason that 
they could have no comprehension of such conditions. 
The animal formula of sustenance, or- that which sus- 
tains the existence of man, in common with animals, 
does not embrace for man the special method by which 
he is supplied with spirit force. This method is as 
simple and easy of comprehension as the special 
method by which, as we have explained, the nerve 
force is supplied. 

In order for man to become the positive recipient of 



THF. SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 23 

the psychic spirit, he must keep under subjection his 
animal nature. This conduct on his part will put into 
positive activity the higher faculties of the soul, and 
adapt it to the inspirational influx of the psychic spirit, 
in a special manner; just as sound refreshing sleep 
promotes the respiratory influx, in a distinctive sense, 
of the electric spirit of the atmosphere. As water 
passing into the thirsty body, by the act of drinking, 
quiets the thirst and refreshes it; even so does the 
psychic spirit, by the act of doing good, enter into the 
soul and impart to it the higher aspirations of man- 
hood, strengthening the spirit of progress, purity, and 
contentment. Doing evil just as certainly produces a 
discordant relationship between the soul and its high- 
est source of sustenance; and this condition subjugates 
the spiritual nature of man in proportion as it exists, 
and shuts out from him this highest source of soul 
nurture. It is even possible for a man to so degrade 
himself, by a constant indulgence in evil, that he may 
live entirely upon the animal plane of existence. Sol- 
omon must have had this condition of the soul in view 
when he said: "He that is slow to anger, is better than 
the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that 
taketh a city." 

Just as a deteriorated condition of one or all of the 
solids in the body, directly vitiates physical life; a de- 
teriorated condition of the electrical and psychologi- 
cal just as certainly weakens the moral stamina, and is 
followed, in proportion as it exists, by immoral or un- 
healthy manifestations of soul life. In order to have 



24 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

healthy souls in healthy bodies, men must understand 
their relation to things spiritual as clearly as they do 
their relation to things material, and learn how to 
obey all the laws that govern their being. Did man 
ever so understand himself.^ 



CHAPTER II. 



PRIMAL MAN. 



^^^HE activities of the body prove that it is a ma- 
JLU terial organization, and directly a product of the 
material world upon which it is dependent for suste- 
nance. The mental activities prove the existence of 
the psychological world, of which it is directly a pro- 
duct, and upon which it is also .dependent for suste- 
nance. The natural body could not exist without the 
material world; the soul could not be without the 
psychological world. Man's organization is, of itself, 
proof of the perfect period of creation that made his 
evolution possible, because his organization includes 
all the constituents of the universe. 

The theories that reach downward through matter, 
in an ever-descending scale, for the origin of life, as 
manifested in man, do violence to a natural instinct, 
which inclines him to look to a still higher source than 
himself for his origin. Such theories make it very dif- 
ficult for him to realize that his soul is an immortal 
entity. The truths made manifest through scientific 
research in the realm of matter, cannot be too highly 
appreciated; but, no matter how seemingly logical the 
deductions of scientists, man does not, and never can, 
feel ennobled by a belief in matter as his origin. 



26 THE SCIENCE OF SET.F-CONTROL. 

Time, as a measured portion of duration, is a some- 
thing which belongs only to the material domain, and 
not to the realm of infinity, or the eternity of God. 
If, however, we regard time in connection with infinite 
creation, the conclusion is irresistible that the psycho- 
logical and material universe was not created instantly, 
but was gradual in its development to its present state 
of perfection. Gradual development harmonizes with 
the psychological and material law of innate germinal 
evolution, as a means by which the world was filled 
with animated existence; as well as with the manifes- 
tations of geological formations. This theory justifies 
the conclusion that the different classes of animated 
entities, as well as the geological formations, are in- 
dexical of the creative progress of the material and 
psychological worlds, at ihe time of their development; 
Each evolutionary germ respectively producing a spe- 
cies; each species being the representation of a pro- 
gressive epoch in creation, as perfect in its form and 
kind, as the direct source of its evolutionary germ could 
make it, from the lowest order, step by step, up to 
man; Each species, wdiich have from time to time 
made their appearance in the material world, repre- 
senting that state of creative perfection essential for 
its development and sustenance as such. 

The elements of the sustenance adapted to the taste 
and life of each class of living existences, together 
with the means provided for the gratification of their 
instinctive and mental delights, prove conclusively 
that the lower orders of creation are so many repre- 
sentatives of the state of development of the material 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 2^ 

and psychological world at the time of their evolution. 
In the economy of things, the social boundaries of each 
class were fixed, over which they cannot step without 
doing violence to the health and harmony of their kind, 
and producing the deformities of amalgamation. 

To affirm that the higher species of animated exist- 
ences were originally evolved from the lower, would 
be to admit that the lesser had the power to produce 
the greater, or that the effect was greater than the 
cause. 

Such was the rudimentary state of the psychological 
and material world at the era marked by the evolution 
of the germ that produced the monkey, that the 
monkey was the highest type of animated being that 
these worlds were capable of sustaining, in organized 
existence, at that period in creation's history. Had 
man, by some arbitrary act of creation, been called 
into existence at this time, (during the monkey epoch) 
he would hav^e failed to find that sustenance from the 
psychological and material world indicated by his 
mental and physical nature; and, like a child born be- 
fore its time, would have perished. 

It appears, therefore, that the first pair of each spe- 
cies, from the lowest to the highest, were evolved at 
different periods in the creative progress of the uni- 
verse, and that these periods were as distinctive as the 
species themselves. 

In harmony, then, with the theory of epochral evolu- 
tion, each epoch in the world's creative history being 
marked by its representative class of animated life, we 
have, in the creation of man, the highest order of ani- 



2cS THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

mated being, and the representative of the most perfect 
period of creation's history. Each order of beings, in- 
dexical of the creative perfection of the material and 
psychological world, at the time of their evolution, 
have their faculties perfectly developed. This perfect 
development, this innate knowledge, called instinct, 
adapts them to their pathway through life with an un- 
erring precision which often far transcends the acquired 
knowledge of man. If, therefore, the imperfect cre- 
ative state of the psychological and material world 
evolved the lower animals, with faculties approximat- 
ing inborn perfection, a more perfect creative state of 
the psychological and material world could not have 
withheld a corresponding perfection of development 
from the greater number of faculties which belong to 
the soul of man. • 

It is a self-evident truth that animals have no facul- 
ties that are not essential to the true measure of their 
existence. It is equally true that man has no faculties 
that are not necessary to the true measure of his ex- 
istence. Here, then, appears a chasm between these 
in the dispositional endowment of creation. We see 
the faculties of animals pre-natally developed for their 
use and protection, while those of man are so far re- 
moved from a like condition, that a lifetime only ena- 
bles him, by education, to approximate the perfection 
manifested by the animal. We cannot accept this 
limitation of the creative power — this seeming lack of 
one round in creation's ladder ; hence, we conclude 
that the primitive state of man was characterized by 
that condition of physical and dispositional perfection. 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 29 

corresponding to the perfection of the creative period 
marked by his evolution. In the Hght of this theory, 
the contemplation of man as he is, was, and may be- 
come, is a theme as rich in thought as that of creation 
itself. 

If man, in his primitive state, had no more pre-natal 
education or mental development than he has now, it 
would have been impossible for him to have extricated 
himself from this low state of intellection ; because 
there could have been no circumstantial sources of 
education from which he could have received instruc- , 
tion. There was nothing superior to himself, and he 
could have received nothing from the animals beneath 
him. He could have had, therefore, no more opportu- 
nity for intellectual advancement, than a child taken 
from its mother at birth and reared among the beasts 
of the forest ; scarcely as much. He could have been 
nothing but a physical being, dispositionally the crea- 
ture of circumstances, selfishness, and passion. He 
could have had no comprehension of any obligation 
to physical or moral law. Man, the animal, must have 
remained man, the animal, with no advantage in being 
man, except in having a greater number of faculties ; 
and with the disadvantage of having none of them as 
perfectly developed as those of the animals beneath 
him. 

Existing facts prove a theory directly the reverse of 
this, and confirm the belief that man has retrograded 
from his original vital relation to things natural and 
spiritual, instead of developing to his present state of 
perfection from the animal plane. There can be no 



30 THE SCIENCE OF SEEF-CONTROL. 

difference of opinion as to the past or present status 
of the physical and mental development of animals. 
They are now, as *they ever have been, incapable of 
violating moral law. Their ratio of faculties is pre- 
natally developed to a state of perfectioi,i which ena- 
bles them to protect and provide for themselves. It 
cannot be that man, a being indcxical of creation's 
higher state of perfection at the time of his evolution, 
should have been created without a similar pre-natal 
development of his far greater number of faculties. 
We would not accuse God, nature, or the creative 
power ascribed to matter, of such partiality ; but are 
forced to conclude that primitive man had both a 
mental and physical development approximating per- 
fection. 

We have proof of the.possibility of man's pre-natal 
development in the instances which the perfect devel- 
opment of one faculty of the mind, as of music or 
mathematics, furnish. In many such cases the faculty 
thus pre-natally educated, is more perfect than it 
could become by a lifetime of circumstantial educa- 
tion, and the most learned are confounded by its mani- 
festations. From such instances we can form an idea 
of man, as he came from the hands of God, with a cor- 
responding pre-natal development of all his faculties ; 
mentally, morally, physically perfected to that state 
which was his natural starting point toward immortal 
progress. 

This theory, that the birthright of primitive man was, 
in the order of creation, a perfect physical organiza- 
tion, and a Godlike nature, is not an ideal one. This 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 3 1 

birthright heritage would have been transmitted to 
succeeding generations, had not man voluntarily done 
violence to the harmony which naturally and origin- 
ally existed between his soul and the omnipresent 
spirit of God; had he not thus shut himself off, meas- 
urably, from his normal momentum of soul life. In 
consecjuence of the inharmonious relationship thus es- 
tablished, man has become physically and morally en- 
feebled, until he has not the practical use of all his facul- 
ties. Animals use, to the utmost, all their faculties for 
the promotion and protection of their being, as they did 
in the beginning of their existence on earth; but man 
has not now the power to utilize his much greater 
number of faculties as they do their's. The special 
methods of education, in use for the development of 
the faculties of the mind and soul, are indicative of 
man's present need of development. Ma-n has now 
all the faculties with which he was originally endowed, 
but they are, more or less, in a latent state; and, not- 
withstanding all the educational advantages of the 
present day, the most learned live and die with facul- 
ties undeveloped, or, at the best, only partially devel- 
oped; and, consequently, never have that practical use 
of them which the Creator intended they should have. 
All the indications are that man is not now in as har- 
monious relation to the two worlds of which he is a 
product, as he was in the beginning, when his soul 
knew loftier aspirations, more extended and purer en- 
joyments, and when his body was not subject to dis- 
ease and premature decay. 

Many believe that pain and disease have always been 



32 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the common lot of man. The Hon. Horace Mann, 
years ago, in a lecture at the College of Antioch, said : 
''According to Biblical history, there was no record 
of pain or disease for the first thousand of years of 
human existence, the only remark being, that they 
lived to a good old age and died full of years ; 
there was no case of premature decay or death, and 
no mention made of pain, except in the case of good 
old Jacob, just before he died. There was no instance 
of a father having followed his son to the grave." Of 
course there was no need of hospitals for the sick, or 
asylums for the. insane. Siiice this period, the conduct 
and habits of rational beings have been such as to bring 
about a reversion of this blessed state of things, and 
now there is urgent need for the many hospitals and 
asylums that are filled with suffering humanity; while 
disease, as a rule, is the common lot of all mankind. 

The idea that educational impressions underlie the 
nurture of the mind or soul, in a psychological sense, 
is without foundation in fact. They exercise the facul- 
ties of the mind, and co-operate with the sources of 
psychological nurture, in their development; just as 
physical exercise develops and strengthens the mus- 
cles of the brain and body. What a man knows, under- 
lies his mental strength and power. Knowledge, 
according to its extent, presupposes the activity of the 
faculties corresponding to its nature; and, whether it 
is inborn or acquired, it is still knowledge. The growth 
and expansion of the faculties of the mind promote 
civilization, and improve man's condition from an in- 
dividual standpoint, also, by enlarging his mental ca- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 33 

pacity, and thus making a greater degree of enjoyment 
possible to him. There are many highly cultured, 
but wicked men, whose souls are in a discordant rela- 
tion to things spiritual. There are many illiterate, but 
good men, who receive a larger amount of soul life 
than some of the most cultured do. The good man, 
by the constant exercise of his higher or spiritual fac- 
ulties, keeps his lower nature in subjection, and thus 
establishes the harmonious condition necessary to the 
inspiration of the psychic spirit. A very highly edu- 
cated man may be jealous, cunning, politic, revengeful, 
lascivious; while an illiterate man may be charita- 
ble, ingenuous, and ever ready to forgive injury. The 
reverse of this may just as well be true, and when it is, 
the good intellectual man has the advantage of the 
good illiterate man, in having within his reach the 
greater facilities for enjoyment which knowledge gives 
him. But, as we have seen, something more than the 
educational impressions that man now receives, through 
the knowledge imparted at institutions of learning, or 
by the religious teachings of the day, is necessary to ena- 
ble him to regain the physical perfection, moral strength 
and spiritual beauty that characterized his primitive 
existence. In order for man to reach, even a starting 
point, toward this restoration, he must be taught how to 
utilize the forces of his being, by obedience to the laws 
that govern these forces. This method is practical, 
and in harmony with the teachings of Christ. 



CHAPTER III 



PSYCHIC MAN. 

feVERY living; entity involuntarih^ evolves its char- 
^^^ acteristic emanation. The emanation from the 
person of a human being may not be as perceptible 
as that evolved by the rose, 3^et wild fowl and animals 
often take cognizance of it, when the person from whom 
it emanates is still at a considerable distance from 
them. Every human being evolves a physical emana- 
tion from the body, and a spiritual, or psychological 
emanation from the soul. These emanations are char- 
acteristic of that from which they come ; they are 
healthy and pure, in proportion as the souls and bodies 
of men are healthy and pure. Abnormal conditions 
of the body cause it to give off corresponding emana- 
tions, which are not only repulsive,, but the direct 
cause of disease in others. An unnatural, or sinful 
condition of the soul, causes it to evolve characteristic 
emanations, which influence others for evil. As there 
can be no effect, however inconsiderable, without a 
cause, and as the effect of these emanations are self- 
evident, although the emanations themselves are in- 
visble, they are proven to be veritable realities in the 
domain of occult science. As such, they leave no 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 35 

doubt in the mind as to the personality of the organ- 
ized beings who unconsciously evolve them. 

The ever emanating psychic spirit fills all space with 
spirit, as literally as the atmosphere fills the limited 
space of a room. This is the psychic spirit that blends 
with the electrical, even as the electrical blends with 
the atmosphere. This psychic spirit is the emanating 
cause of man's existence, and his direct source of spir- 
itual sustenance. It is true, that we have not the same 
evidence of the infinite emanations from God, as proof 
of His existence, that we have of the emanations of 
finite beings, as proof of their existence; but the force 
in man, by which he m.oves his body from place to 
place, and which is influenced and directed without 
physical contact, is phenomenal evidence of the exist- 
ence and presence of this emanating spirit. The ex- 
alted feelings consequent upon the performance of 
deeds of charity or kindness, through love, are refera- 
ble to the influx of this emanating spirit into the soul, 
through the activity of the higher faculties of man, 
and are proof of its existence. This omnipresent 
psychic spirit is incorporated into the soul in the form 
of thought, whose changes are the source of all the 
pleasure or pain that man can possibly enjoy or en- 
dure. 

Thought, the life and power of the soul, is a cause, 
not an effect, in the sense claimed by science. It is 
the cause of man's mental activities, and only an effect 
as a manifestation of the universal spirit force which 
permeates all things. We do not mean to infer that 
this emanating spirit force is God, or that God thus 



36 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

becomes a part of the soul, or the soul a part of God. 
Nature teaches us that emanations from organized 
bodies and things, although, in a sense, a part of them, 
in that the bodies are the source of the emanations, 
and in that the emanations contain the .same proper- 
ties as the bodies, are yet not the bodies themselves. 

The thought force is so subtile that it cannot be con- 
founded with any thing that could have been imparted 
by nature, and it is not subject to nature's laws. 
Changes are produced in it by objective influences, but 
this only shows the adaptation of means to ends, of 
the natural to the spiritual, and the vital co-operation 
of the physical and the psychological. The law of 
equilibrium, the highest that obtains in the realm of 
nature, cannot touch it; because this something in man 
that thinks, this spiritual body, is not in any way the 
result of nature's handiw^ork. When in the etherial 
heavens two floating clouds, in different electrical con- 
ditions, approach each other, the law of equilibrium 
commands their equality. Forked lightnings flash the 
air into flame, the heavens resound with pealing thun- 
der, and the commotion ceases not until this law has 
manifested its authority, by an equal distribution of the 
vitality of the atmosphere. Let us question this law 
in regard to the distribution of spiritual life. If there 
is nothing that it does not subjugate and control, then 
it follows that the mystic thinking power in man is a 
product of the material world, or was evolved from 
matter. 

The living facts, as demonstrated by the activities of 
man, are, that he has, systematically, two lives ; the 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 37 

physical or material, and the mental or spiritual. If 
this law of equilibrium controls and directs alike the 
forces of both these lives, there can be no foundation 
for the belief that nature proves the immortality of 
the soul ; for all things subject to nature's laws are 
mortal and perishable. The amount of knowledge 
which a man possesses, constitutes the sum total of 
his intellectual strength. The amount of nerve force 
he possesses, constitutes the sum total of his physical 
strength. First, let us, by way of illustration, subject 
the physical life to the law of equilibrium. If two , 
men, the one having plus, or more, of physical 
life, the other negative, or less, sleep together night 
after night, this law will take from the one that has 
the more and give to the one that has the less, until 
there is comparative equality between them. During 
sleep, the body approximates that state of non-resist- 
ance, or passivity, which is the natural condition of in- 
animate bodies. This law must, of course, be under- 
stood, to be rationally obeyed ; but, since it is immuta- 
ble and, in the distribution of the nerve force, is no 
respecter of persons, the consequences of its violation 
are visited alike upon the ignorant and the wise. 
With a knowledge of the positive influence of this law 
upon the physical system, w^e should, if we value health., 
be as careful in the selection of persons with whom we 
sleep, as we are, from different considerations, in the 
selection of persons with whom we associate when 
awake. Those who understand this law, too often dis- 
regard it. Strong and healthy persons, and especially 
children, have their vitality drawn from them by sleep- 



38 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

ing- with the diseased, or infirm, and thus become the 
victims of premature decay and death. Doctor Syden- 
ham, over one hundred years ago, recognized this 
means of cure. He says, in his '' Theory and Prac- 
tice," that, in certain forms of nervous* debiHty, he 
found no remedy so efficacious as for a person thus de- 
biHtated, to sleep with persons in robust health. The 
bodies of human beings are more amenable to this law 
during sleep. Instances which prove that there is 
this conditional interchange of vitality between two 
human bodies lying near each other, as in sleep, arc 
too numerous for the fact to be successfully denied. 
Skepticism cannot destroy the evicience of cause and 
effect, so plainly manifested in the unconscious distri- 
bution of the physical life of the body. 

By this digressive illustration, having demonstrated 
the fact that the vital enabling force, the highest in 
the material organization, is subjugated and controlled 
by this distributing and equalizing law of nature ; just 
as the electrical force, the highest in the material 
world, is controlled ; and that this enabling, or nerve 
force, although organized into the body as its motive 
power, is, nevertheless, a part and parcel of the mate- 
rial world, and conditionally amenable to its laws, we 
will, by a like illustration, subject the intellectual life 
to the influence of this' law. 

Let two men place themselves in a state of non-re- 
sistance to this law of equality, by sleeping together ; 
suppose one to have a plus amount of intelllectual 
life, and the other less. How long would the one that 
has more be obliged to sleep with the one that has 



THE SCIEXCE OE SELE-CONTROL. 39 

less, in order to impart to his less favored brother 
equal intellectuality with himself? Reason and com- 
mon sense would at once answer, that this law has no 
power to lay its hand upon, or distribute the intel- 
lectual life of man, as it does his physical life. 

A special examination of the laws that control the 
distribution of intellectual life, discovers to us, clearly, 
and beyond a reasonable doubt, the fact that they 
are the opposite of those which govern physical 
life. A strong and healthy person imparts strength 
to an enfeebled one during sleep, wiiether he is willing 
or not ; and by the operation of this law, his own vi- 
tality is proportionately deteriorated. Intellectual 
life can only be imparted by one to another by the ac- 
tion of the will ; and although the intellectual life, so 
imparted, be great, yet the person who possessed the 
most, finds that, by the act of imparting it, he has de- 
cidedly increased his own power of thought; that by 
imparting new life to another he has gained increased 
power to himself. 

Science has striven by everj^ experimental means, 
facilitated by the most powerful instrumental adjuncts 
that human ingenuity could construct, to find the hid- 
den source of life, as manifested through matter. 
Theory has succeeded theory, as the revelations of the 
microscope and telescope, the discoveries of chemists, 
naturalists, and geologists have added to the ever- 
increasing store of human knowledge. The remarka- 
ble conclusion at last arrived at, is, that matter contains 
within itself the reason of its own existence, and that 
man is a product therefrom. The soul naturally rebels 



40 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

against such a source as its origin, and refuses to ac- 
cept a theory which offers Httle, if any hope of a future 
immortal existence, and is glad to learn from nature's 
laws that all organic existences, having the power of 
self-motion, move by virtue of the spirit force, which 
material law cannot direct or control. 

Man not only reasons and thinks, but he has an 
innate craving for an individual immortal existence. 
From the time of conception, that which relates to 
the natural body, in the germ, attracts its nourishment 
and is developed from the substances of the material 
world ; and that which relates to the soul, in the germ, 
attracts its nourishment and is developed from the 
psychological elements of the invisible world. The 
formation of both soul and body is dependent, 
from the start, upon the conjunctivity of these two 
worlds. At the time of birth, both the soul and body 
have an individuality, the soul bearing the impress of 
its pre-natal development, and the body having its 
own physical peculiarities. After birth, the soul, while 
in the body, or during its earthly existence, is devel- 
oped and sustained by its adaptive system of suste- 
nance, just as the material body, during fetal life, was 
developed and sustained by its adaptive system of 
sustenance. It is no more unreasonable or unnatural 
to accept the fact that the soul, as an individual spiritual 
entity, separate from, yet developed with the body, 
should be born into the psychological world of which 
it is a product and part, at the death of the body, than 
that the body, at its germinal maturity, should be born 
into this world. Nature teaches that at the moment 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 41 

of conception, the immortal life of man has its indi- 
vidual commencement, and that at the death of the 
body, when the soul is ushered into direct immortal 
existence in the spiritual world, it retains its individu- 
ality, even as the body, which in utero takes indi- 
vidual form, retains this form throughout its existence 
as a body. 

The soul of man, which is a product of the psy- 
chological world, may, like the psychological world, 
defy mortal vision, the analyzing skill of a chemist, 
and the dissecting knife of the surgeon ; but the exis- 
tence of law teaches practical lessons. Surely, if physi- 
ological law exists for the government of the body, 
and proves its existence, psychological law, which just 
as certainly exists, must be for the government of the 
soul, and proves its existence. The mental activities 
prove that man has a soul now, a spiritual life co-exist- 
ent with the physical, a soul that nature's highest law 
cannot command. They prove that it is a spiritual 
entity, having an individuality which it will retain 
when born into the spirit world, and by which it may 
be known, as men are known in this world. God said 
to the material world : " Be thou mortal"; and to the 
psychological world, and all that emanates therefrom. 
" Be thou immortal"; and it was so. 

It is true that many men who pass through life, rpani- 
festing no higher aspirations than those which arise 
from their animal natures, could have no reasonable 
hope of an individual, immortal existence, were it not 
for the higher dispositional development which con- 
tradistinguishes man from all other animated exis- 



42 THE SCIENCE OE SELF-CONTROL. 

tenccs. Man may live upon tlie animal plane during 
his mortal life, and thus retard the subjectiv^e growth 
and progress of his soul, but lie still possesses latent 
faculties, which indicate that if he does not become 
the recipient of spiritual life here, in a direct sense, he 
may, at some future stage of soul development here- 
after, through the purifying virtues of immortality. 
Though the souls of men may differ when born into 
the psychological world, according to the progress 
made while in the body, as the stars differ in glor)', 
they will still be born to a heritage of eternal life. 
When we consider the soul as a real entity, that not 
only lives, but must continue to live, our interest in 
the investigation of psychological la\v is greatly en- 
hanced, and our compre]iension of man's responsibilit\' 
enlarged. 

Man, with his perceptions enfeebled by the violation 
of law, vainly tries to comprehend God. We can 
know Him only as He manifests Himself in his works. 
We can at best have onl}"^ a feeble conception of the 
Great Creator, whose omnipresent spirit pervades and 
always did pervade all space. 

There is a thcor}^ that space necessarily existed, in 
and of itself, from all eternity. The soul shrinks from 
the attempt to grasp the idea of space without God. 
Space empty, no life, no motion, no intelligence, no 
power, no property, nor quality, save extension and 
duration ! To admit this theory would be to concede 
that space existed always. There w^ould then be two 
infinite somethings in the realm of the unknowable : 
the one self-existent space, the other a self-existent 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 43 

God. But as space was necessary to the purposes of 
God, rather than God necessary to space, we ration- 
ally conclude that there never was such a thing as 
space empty. Its vcr\^ existence as the great work- 
shop of God is an evidence of the purpose of its de- 
signer. Purpose, and design, therefore, point to it as 
being a ubiquitous cxosvios, or out of, from the great 
bosom of Jehovah This illimitable creative power 
transcends human conception, and must satisfy ra- 
tional thought that God will forever be be}^ond the 
comprehension of the finite beings who were created 
by Him, and who live and must continue to live, sus- 
tained by His omnipresent, emanating spirit. Man 
cannot comprehend God; but he can understand that 
he is the noblest and most perfect product of creation, 
made in the image of God, and yet subject to finite 
law which he has the power to obey or disobey. He 
can understand that he is personally responsible for 
the violation of the laws of his being, and that he 
must suffer the moral and physical penalties conse- 
quent upon such violation; and that he attains the 
highest physical and spiritual perfection possible to 
him as a finite being, and places himself in the most 
harmonious relation to the psychological world, which 
is his ultimate destination, by obedience to these law\s. 



CHAPTER IV. 



GOSPEL OF SELF-CONTROL. 

^HERE are two systems in the psychological 
1^ realm which give direction to the thoughts of 
men ; one, that of self-control, tlie other that of 
excitement. The amount of thought force which the 
mind can change and direct, by the subjective power 
of the will, and its dispositional influence, constitutes 
the system of Sclf-Control ; while the amount of 
thought force which circumstances can change and 
direct, independent of the will, constitutes that of 
Excitement. These are ever contending for the mas- 
tery over 'the forces of the souls and bodies of men. 
Therefore, when a person becomes circumstantially, or 
otherwise, the recipient of any impressional influence 
which changes and positively directs twenty per cent, 
of the forces of his being, while the executive func- 
tions of his will can onl}' change five or ten per cent., 
as certainly as an apple falls from a tree to the ground, 
will his soul, dispositionally, gravitate to the greater 
influence and be controlled b}^ it. 

This is the practical reason A\'hy it is no uncommon 
thing for men to do, impulsively, under the unre- 
strained, or excitable direction of thought, so many 
things which they bitterly repent of afterward. Such 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 45 

persons are guilty of tlie sin of omission, rather than 
of commission ; because they have neglected to cul- 
ture the will, and obtain that self-control which would 
have enabled them to resist excitable impressions. 
Those who plan with themselves, or conspire with 
others, for the gratification of their selfish and sinful 
natures — pressing the executive functions of the will 
into service — to take from another, either in a private 
or public capacity, his life, good name, virtue or prop- 
erty, are guilty of a sin of commission, so dark and 
degrading in its nature, that the sinner, himself must 
shrink from contemplating it. 

As the mind and soul are largely dependent upon 
the health of the body for their well-being and prog- 
ress, a true system of moral and religious philosophy 
must necessarily embrace a practical consideration of 
the harmonious relations of the body to nature. The 
moral treatment of the soul, as a something not con- 
nected with the bod\', and not co-operatively respon- 
sible for its welfiire, can never place man in that spir- 
itual relation to things divine, indicated by his nature 
and the laws of his being. There must be a harmoni- 
ous fulfilling of all the conditions required by nature, 
before we can expect full and satisfactory results. 

The direct and beneficial influences of self control 
upon man's physical and moral nature, attest that soul 
and body are intimately connected, and that the exer- 
cise of this Godlike powx-r is requisite to the well-being 
of both. Psychological economy also recognizes the 
attainment of the power of self control to be a rational 
possibility. As such, it is clearly demonstrated in the 



46 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

teachings and works of Christ; yet, the theories and 
practice of men place it in the background, or give it 
no positive place in the list of moral obligations. It is 
thought easier to allow circumstances to control us, 
than to teach ourselves to control the influence of cir- 
cumstances upon us. For this reason, the practical 
advantages of this Godlike power and privilege have 
not received from theologians and scientists the atten- 
tion they demand; although much, earnest thought, as 
well as money, has been expended in other directions, 
to accomplish the good that might have been achieved 
through this most potent aid to moral and religious 
growth. 

The will is the executive facult}', or rudder, of the 
mind and soul, or that something in'man which, sub- 
jectively, has the power to direct his physical and men- 
tal activities. As the thoughts of mcUi are ever subject 
to the evil, as well as to the good circumstantial in- 
fluences of life, it is just as necessary that he should 
use his will to shape his conduct in the way of true 
manhood, as it is for the captain of a ship at sea to use 
the rudder to shape its course amidst adverse winds. 
It is the supreme law of the soul, which is no respecter 
of persons, that man's conduct is always shaped by the 
greatest influence exercised over his thoughts, and it 
is the special business anci purpose of the will to pre- 
vent the evil influences from dominating. What would 
become of a Samson as captain of a ship at sea in a 
storm, with a weak and flimsy rudder.^ Just what be- 
comes of many intellectual and strong-minded men, 
who, because of their weak and undeveloped will power, 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 47 

are wrecked amidst the untoward and evil circumstan- 
tial influences of life. 

As man has a higher range of faculties than the ani- 
mal, his will, in contradistinction from the animal, 
means something more than the ability to move the 
body at pleasure. That something is the power to 
combat the influence of evil, and thus to help, in a 
positive manner, moral and intellectual teachings in 
the great w^ork of developing a true and progressive 
manhood. The. lack of will power to cope with the 
influence of circumstances over thought, has entailed 
upon man a state of discord between the systems of 
the soul and body, and their respective sources of ob- 
jective supply and nourishment This untow^ard state 
of things has sown the pathway of man with thorns 
and thistles, wdiich are ever pricking the soul with sin 
and unrest, and stinging the body w^ith ]:)ain and dis- 
ease. * 

The temptation and transgression of Adam, accord- 
ing to popular theor}^ l:)rought about the present sinful 
state of man. This theor\' is reniarkabh' expressive 
of the influence of evil over thought in shaping the 
conduct of men now. Place before the mind's eye a 
human being with a pre-natal development like unto 
tliat with a pre-natal development called animal in- 
stinct, and with a soul and body wdiose systems 
are in perfect harmony with their natural sources of 
nourishment ; and wiio, consequently, has the will 
power that would enable him to produce feelings of 
pleasure or pain, at will, and we see in him a typical 
Adam, as he came .from the hands of his Creator. If 



48 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

Adam did not originally possess this power of the will, 
he did not come from the hands of his Creator in a 
perfect state of manhood ; and it could not have been 
said of him, truthfully, that he was made in the image 
of God. That he did have this power, is evidenced by 
the fact that there are many persons now living, who 
can, to a greater or less degree, exercise this positive 
control over their thoughts ; and there are many more 
who could do so, if they knew how. If Adam was 
even as perfect as these persons are, in this respect, 
his power to have prevented the spirit of evil from con- 
trolling him, is apparent. If there was a man now 
living in this perfect primitive condition, and if he 
should, voluntarily, allow the influence of evil to dom- 
inate over his thoughts, he would, as a natural conse- 
quence, part with the higher marks of true manhood ; 
would become the creature of circumstances ; wonld 
disrupt the harmonious relationship between soul and 
body, and their natural sources of nourishment ; and 
would thus inflict upon himself sin and disease. 

If Adam was created so imperfect as to become, ir- 
respective of his will power, the creature of circum- 
stances, he could not have helped yielding to tempta- 
tion, and, consequently, was not responsible. God 
would not have held Adam responsible for the violation 
of a law which he had no power to keep. This is evi- 
dence that the voluntary surrender of the will power, 
which had enabled him to control and direct the forces 
of his being, was Adam's transgression. He set the 
ball in motion, and succeeding generations have kept 
it roUing with accelerated velocity. This being true, 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 49 

a system which embraces the restoration of this power 
of self-control to man, must be the best system for 
the promotion of moral and religious progress. AU 
persons feel that there is a lack of^something in them 
t^lnake them what they should be ; this theory of 
the fall of man, demonstrates that the something lack- 
ing is self-control. 

The power to direct the thought force, is what man 
lost by the fall ; and this loss produced a reversion of 
the thought force, from his higher to his lower nature, 
causinsf him to take more delii^ht in the activities of 
the latter than the former. The inharmonious condi- 
tion thus brought about, has been a heritage of sin 
and disease to succeeding generations, and has shut 
man out from a perfect prenatal development of his 
moral and intellectual faculties. 

The doctrine of hereditary descent had its birth at 
the time when man's thoughts, by the voluntary act of 
his will, strayed from their Godlike pathwa}-. Ever 
since, the men and women of one generation have 
suffered, more or less, because of the sins of the gen- 
eration preceding them. There are thousands now 
living who are of a scrofulitic, consumptive idiocyn- 
cracy ; other thousands who are lame, insane, deformed, 
drunkards, with those who are, dispositionally, ani- 
mals clad in human form, whose abnormal condition 
is directly and clearly referable to the sins of their 
ancestors. The law of hereditary descent does not seek 
to hide itself behind the abnormal acts of ages, or the 
theories of men. Its manifestations are as plain as the 
light of noonday. By its effects, as seen in our day 



50 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

and generation, upon the physical and mental constitu- 
tions of men, we may trace its effects, through succes- 
sive generations, to the primitive existence of man. 

The affirmation that human beings of the present 
day do not suffer in body and soul, because of the 
transgression of their primal parents, cannot be logic- 
ally sustained, except upon the theory of the imper- 
fection of man in the beginning. The existence of 
man, in his primal, or more perfect state, did not, in 
the nature of things, imply his immortal existence on 
earth, because his body is of the earth earthy. It did, 
however, imply a good old age and fullness of years, 
with the blessings of health, peace, contentment, and 
progress. This is evi4ent from the practical and con- 
scious fact, that the more control a man has over his 
thoughts, the more healthy and happy he becomes ; 
while, on the other hand, a lack of control brings 
about, as certainly, a corresponding state of unrest, sin, 
pain, and premature decay. When we think of all 
the suffering that has been transmitted to this genera- 
tion, through the violation of moral and physical law, 
by the preceding ones ; when we think of man as he 
is, mentally, morally, and physically enfeebled, the 
question. What shall be done to enable rational beings 
to regain their lost estate } presents itself as one of 
momentous import. 

The hand, placed upon the head of a human being, 
covers the only spot in the universe where there is, or 
can be, any conscious transgression of moral law, or 
sin. Sin does not consist in the normal use of the 
faculties aggregated and organized into the soul of 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 5 1 

man, but in the abuse, or abnormal use of them. Philos- 
ophy does not, in any of its forms, contend that man, 
in his primitive state, was the son of God in the sense 
that Christ was. Unless man had been able to say to 
the winds and waves, authoritatively, ^Teace, be still," 
and to compel from them obedience, it would be illogi- 
cal to affirm that he could violate infinite law. Man 
cannot comprehend infinite law, even in its co-opera- 
tion with the finite laws that govern his being. Original 
sin, therefore, consisted in the violation of finite, not 
infinite law. This violation disrupted the harmony of 
the systems of man, in their relationship to the sys- 
tems of the material and psychological world ; and, 
consequently, to the spirit of God. For the laws 
which govern the soul and body, although finite in 
their nature, are the laws of God, adapted to the finite 
nature of man. Man is responsible now to his Creator, 
and always has been, for the violation of finite law, or 
for the sin which disrupts the harmonious co-operation 
of finite and infinite law, which lack of harmony pre- 
supposes sin' and punishment. Man mnst be taught 
to understand his individual responsibility in reference 
to the laws of his being, and the necessity of obedience 
thereto, as the one thing needful to insure happiness 
and progress. 

There is a law in man's economy, commanding him 
to sleep. He understands this law, and can break it, 
at will, to his own injury ; but the infinite law which 
compels nature, during normal sleep, to supply him 
with nervo-vital force, and which acts only through 
the co-operative finite law, is not broken, but remains 



52 . THE SCIENC?: OF SELF-CONTROL. 

unchanged, ready as ever to respect obedience to its 
demands. When a man offends against *the finite law 
of his being, the condition of his nervous system will 
soon show what law he has broken. When a man of- 
fends against the spiritual law of his being, through 
which he receives an influx of spiritual life; the effects 
of this violation upon his moral nature will be equally 
discernable. Man can shut out the spirit of matter from 
his body, as he can, in a measure, the omnipresent 
spirit of God from his soul, by the violation of the 
finite laws of his own finite being. 

Many have concluded, because of man's fallen con- 
dition and his disposition to war against the laws of 
God, that the distempers, pain, and suffering endured 
by humanity, are judgments sent upon him by an angry 
God; ignoring the fact that disease and pain are di- 
rectly, or indirectly, the natural result of the violation 
of law. Others rest their hopes of future happiness 
upon the theory that Christ practically takes upon 
himself their sins, and that they are not, and will not 
be punished for them. This belief is an outgrowth of the 
theology which teaches that Christ came into the 
world, suffered and died to propitiate an angry God, 
rather than to show man, by his precepts and example, 
how to regain his lost estate. Such theories are 
founded upon the mistaken' idea that there is such a 
thing as sin in the abstract, involving the immortal in- 
terests of rational beings; and inasmuch as they relieve 
men of individual responsibility, their influence is non- 
progressive. 

The mere satisfaction which the belief in a theory 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 53 

affords, is no evidence that the theory is a true one. 
The psychological constitution is such that Ave can be 
as happy in the belief, or under the influence of an 
error, for the time being, as in the belief of a truth; 
but not in the after results: because the spirit of truth 
is progressive, the spirit of error, non-progressive. If 
we declare our belief in a theory which, in our estima- 
tion, is the one best fitted to advance our spiritual 
welfare; if we live in accordance with this belief, and 
yet, as the days go by, we manifest no more self-control, 
and have no higher aspirations than we did when we 
began to practice this theory ; we furnish, in our own 
experience and example, the evidence that the theory 
is a mistaken one. Unlike other subjects, it is a mat- 
ter of no small importance as to whether we take the 
right or the wrong view of things pertaining to the soul. 
It cannot be denied that the doubt and skepticism 
that prevail in the minds (?f men, are the most formida- 
ble clogs to the wheels of physical and moral progress. 
Something more than theory is necessary to remove 
doubt, and stop the growth of skepticism. Theory 
must be supported by practical demonstration; and a 
theory that men can practically apply to their individ- 
ual needs, must sooner or later place skepticism in the 
background. 



CHAPTER V . 




GOSPEL OF SELF-CONTROL, CONTINUED. 

^OD, and His spirit, are the same now as in the 
P beginning. As Christ has performed His mis- 
sion without changing the laws of the soul or body, 
we have, as the sources of man's physical and spiritual 
restoration : First, a God of love ; Second, the Holy 
Ghost, which is of a tryth His emanating, omnipresent 
Spirit ; Third, the Godly teachings and example of 
Christ's life and death. 

We have, in a former chapter, endeavored to show 
man's intimate relationship to his Creator, and the 
urgent necessity that he should use every effort to 
place himself in a condition to receive His omnipresent, 
emanating Spirit. As the means to this all important 
end, we shall now try to impress the necessity of man's 
enmlating the example and obeying the precepts of 
Christ. 

Two magnets, the form of whose forces are dissimi- 
larly directed or conditioned, attract each other, or 
vice versa. This is the law of attraction and repulsion, 
in the material world. The law that obtains in the 
realm of the soul, is the reverse of this. Two persons, 
who, from circumstances or otherwise, have a like di- 
rection of thought, or the force of the soul, sympathize, 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 55 

more or less, and. are attracted to each other, while 
those who have an unlike direction of thought, more 
or less, repel each other. A person whose thoughts 
take on the religious form or direction of one sect, 
sympathises more or less with, and is attracted to 
another, whose thoughts are in a like religious condi- 
tion. Their attraction and sympathy is as natural, 
with their mental forces in a like condition, as is the 
attraction of physical forces, in an unlike condition. 
Under the ruling of this law we find the impressional 
cause of the separation of communities into sects, and 
of the warring and splitting of sects themselves. As 
the spirit of circumstances led them, men have united 
in religious bodies for the purpose of impressionally 
developing the moral and religious nature, or the good 
in man, to counteract the evil. Yet, in spite of these 
humane and laudable efforts, century after century, to 
perfect mankind by this method, unrest, sin, and dis- 
ease continue to be the rule, instead of the exception. 
The various sciences have been consulted, by cul- 
tured and consecutive thought, for the means with 
which to place in the background the influence of the 
spirit of evil. Descartes, in his researches, came to 
the conclusion, that if mankind were ever to be per- 
fected, the means to accomplish this end would be 
found in the medical sciences. With due deference to 
this opinion, we would ask : What more can ever be 
found in the medical sciences, to checkmate the influ- 
ence and effects of evil, than the amelioration of pain 
and disease ? This is, we admit, an indirect help to 
moral progress, in so far as it improves the physical 



56 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

condition, and thus places man in a more harmonious 
relation to nature ; and in so far as the means used for 
the restoration of the body, condition it for the recu- 
perative influx of objective or surrounding- vitalit)'. 

The preaching" of the doctrine of eternal punish- 
ment, and the presentation of God as a wrathful and 
revengeful being, whom men must serve through fear, 
may restrain men from the commission of crimes, but 
can hardly be embraced in the means for making them 
better by developing their higher nature. The more 
progressive preaching of the necessity of obedience 
through love, and to merit the approval of a kind 
Father, although grateful to men's souls, still lacks a 
vital something, as is proven by the accumulated re- 
sults. We would not speak lightly oT the great and 
good men who have labored devoutly, and who have 
done so much in the name of Christ to improve the 
moral condition of mankind. The time has come, 
however, when we must look this matter squarely in 
the face, in order to ascertain the extent to which these 
efforts, unaided by the Christlike virtues of the w^ill, 
have enabled the higher nature of man to dominate 
over evil, and place the spirit of evil in the background. 
Is there a state in this Union wiiere the Gospel is 
preached, where men could live in peace and safety if 
the laws of the land were abolished ? Which exercises 
the greater influence, as a whole, over mankind, in this 
direction, their moral power of restraint, or the fear 
of punishment ? 

Suppose, as an illustration, that any one State in 
this Union should abrogate all laws, and all punish- 



THE SCIP:NCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 57 

ment for crime or misdemeanors, committed within its 
boundaries for the space of one year, and should promise 
future immunity from punishment for crime committed 
during that time. Although there would be many 
thousands of good men and women whose moral 
natures would restrain them from evil, just as they had 
done under the law, yet what would become of them 
and their earthly possessions during that short period 
of time ? Would the}'" be safe from harm in their quiet 
and peaceable homes, at their places of business, on 
the street, or in any other place ? No. Murder, rob- 
bery, and other crimes that would put to shame the 
animals of the forest, would be the order of things, 
and good men would flee for protection to States 
whose people were under the restraint of law, as they 
would flee from a pestilence. 

This is the condition of things after centuries of 
gospel teaching, and it is not referable to any defect 
or fault in the teachings of Christ, but to a miscon- 
struction of their true significance. The adaptability 
of things points unerringly, with the finger of science, 
to the gospel teachings of Christ as the only means 
within the range of possibility, to bring about a differ- 
ent result. The adaptability of His scheme of salva- 
tion to the laws of the soul, is as apt and conclusive as 
that of any other one thing to another in creation. 

Christ knew that there were two methods of im- 
pressing, or influencing, the thought or spirit force : 
the one, by objective impressions, to which method 
He adapted His preceptive teachings ; the other, sub- 
jectively by the will, to which method He adapted the 



58 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

teachings embraced in His example of practical self- 
control. His teachings were therefore dual ; otherwise 
they would not have met the demands of the laws that 
govern the soul. He utilized the one method as a 
means for educating and developing the moral and re- 
ligious nature of man, and enabling him to obey, in 
spirit and in truth. His precepts ; and the other, as a 
means for strengthening the will power, and enabling 
man to emulate His example of self-control. 

Though contrary to popular opinion, the teachings 
of Christ are significant of the salvation of the body 
from disease and premature decay, in common with 
the salvation of the soul from unrest and sin. These 
two methods are embraced in His scheme for the sal- 
vation of mankind, in a co-operative and helpful man- 
ner. If we rationally tonsult this scheme of salva- 
tion, we shall find that the hunger and thirst of the 
soul, or unrest and sin, are the result of a lack of the 
finer constituents of the soul — the psychic spirit — ^just 
as the hunger and thirst of the body, are because of 
the lack of the grosser constituents — food and water. 
The one means of sustenance, is as necessary to the 
health of the soul, as the other is to the health of the 
body. When the teachings of Christ are obeyed and 
utilized, they bring about a state of accord between 
man and his higher, as well as his lower objective 
sources of nourishment and sustenance. This harmo- 
nious condition, or state of accord, indicates a sujuga- 
tion of the lower, or animal, by the higher, or spirit- 
ual, nature of man, and promotes the positive influx 
and influence of the psychic spirit into the soul. The 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 59 

harmonious condition thus attained is a positive means 
of restoration, and is the most important factor in the 
scheme of salvation through Christ. Just in propor- 
tion as men are led by the spirit and teachings of 
Christ^^out of a state of discord into a state of accord, 
are they saved from sin, unrest, and disease. 

Man is, by nature, a being possessed of will, reason- 
ing power, and a conscious comprehension of right and 
wrong. Upon this fact rests his moral and physical 
responsibility. If there is one thing more clear than 
another in the scheme of salvation by Christ, it is the 
fact that it teaches that the positive helpfulness of the 
will is necessary to enable man to adapt the plan of 
salvation to himself. Practical self-control is, to gos- 
pel teaching, what a stone foundation is to a building. 
Christ taught, by this example, the subjugation and 
direction of the forces of His being by His will. By 
using its Godlike executive functions He was able to 
say to the tempter : "Get thee behind me." Of all 
the influences operating impressionally upon the 
physical, social, moral and spiritual constitutions of 
men, that of example is the greatest. No being ever 
understood the laws of the soul as Christ did ; and, if 
the impressional moral influence of wholesome verbal 
and written teachings had been all that was necessary 
for the salvation of man, there would have been no 
necessity for Christ to have passed through the trying 
ordeal that He did. There would have been no need 
for Him to have put such a strain upon the executive 
functions of His will, in order to leave behind him the 
Godlike example of self-control. Christ was subject 



6o THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

to the laws of the soul, as well as Adam or any other 
man, and had He, on that momentous occasion of His 
temptation by Satan, permitted the spirit of evil to 
dominate over His spirit, or thought force, the laws of 
the soul would have shaped His conduct in the direc- 
tion of evil, as they did the conduct of the first Adam.. 
This would have been teaching by this example the 
same doctrine that Adam taught, or the lack of self- 
control. He could never, in this wiiy, have established 
the confidence of men in Himself as the Savior of the 
world, and a teacher of the diviner things of life. It 
was *'good news and glad tidings of great joy" to 
the world, when Christ as its teacher, demonstrated 
by His example of self-control, that he possessed the 
power, by the positive use of His will, to resist temp- 
tation amidst the mosf attractive and potential influ- 
ences of the spirit of evil. 

Some may argue that the power which Christ exer- 
cised over himself by His will, does not come wTthin 
the range of possibility for men and women. Perhaps 
not ; at least the same amount of self-control. But 
they can manifestly approximate it to a degree that 
would make this world, comparatively, a paradise to 
them. Else, what manner of man was Christ to teach 
that which human beings could neither learn nor util- 
ize, and then command to emulate His example — to 
follow in his footsteps! Others may imagine that this 
power of self-control is a special gift. It is not any 
more a special gift than the faculties of number and 
music are. It is true, that in the present discordant 
state of mankind, some have naturally more will power 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 6t 

than others, just as some have a larger musical and 
mathematical development ; but the will power is as 
amenable to educational development as the other 
faculties ; and, as it is by far the most important power 
of the mind — the directing power, it should receive at 
least equal facilities for development, at the hands of 
educators. Unfortunately, this is not the case. 

The dual teachings of Christ are to the harvest of 
the soul, what the rain and gentle dews are to the har- 
vest of the husbandman. No sensible husbandman 
expects to harvest a crop on which he has bestowed 
no labor. So Christ teaches men, by precept and ex- 
ample, that they cannot be saved by faith alone. There 
is nothing on earth thaft will bestow upon man the 
positive power of the will to control and direct thought, 
without his individual effort. Men have faithfully 
hoped, for centuries, that something outside of them- 
selves would bestow this power upon them ; and yet, 
mankind, as a rule, have not the ability to-day to 
think before they speak or act. In proportion, as in- 
dividuals, by the will, develop and direct their moral 
powers, as Christ taught them to do, will they acquire 
a greater and greater influence over their spiritual 
forces, and be able to enjoy the beauty and blessings 
of true manhood. Whether we believe in Christ as 
the Son of God, or as the greatest of good men, the 
fact remains, that His is the crowning system for man's 
reformation, because of its perfect adaptation to the 
laws of the soul. It is both Godlike and impressional, 
w^hich contradistinguishes it from all other methods, 
which are, in fact, only impressional. Dispute about 



62 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

this matter as we may, the fact remains that the pres- 
ent untoward and sinful state of mankind, and the 
skepticism which obtains, concerning Christ and His 
teachings, are not because of any imperfection in His 
scheme of salvation, but because of the great sin of 
omission, on the part of those who profess to believe 
in himi, in not utilizing the higher virtues of the will 
as He taught them to do by His example. If religious 
teachings had embraced this means for man's restora- 
tion, even for the past century, the marked improve- 
ment in his moral condition would have attested its 
efficacy. Whereas, now, logic and reason succumb to 
superstition and fanaticism, men would have been ruled 
by the spirit of love, and would have been more toler- 
ant and progressive. Whereas, noVv, thousands of 
men and women are afraid to do their own thinking, 
and leave their spiritual direction almost entirely to 
their religious teachers, they would have been able, 
under the teaching that included the pov/er to direct 
thought, to understand their intimate personal rela- 
tionship to things spiritual, and to comprehend their 
individual responsibility. This improvement in man's 
moral condition implies, of course, a corresponding 
improvement in his physical condition. If this im- 
proved state of things could have been attained in 
one century of the Gospel teaching, which embraced 
practical self-control as the great factor in Christ's 
plan of salvation, what might not have been done to 
improve man's condition, if the same Gospel plan had 
been taught through all the centuries since Christ lived 
on earth } 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 63 

The body has strayed as far from the path of health, 
as the soul has, from the path of peace. As we have 
shown, man is a dual being, and the spiritual law that 
governs the soul acts co-operatively through the 
physical law that governs the body; the psychic spirit 
that directly supplies spirit force, blending with the 
electrical that supplies nerve force. It is plain, there- 
fore, that the physical sciences must include in their 
teachings the source of nerve supply, and the special 
method by which Nature administers this vital source 
of life to the body, before they can assist, in a positive 
manner, in man's restoration. Had physiology taught 
the true method of nerve supply, and the vital im- 
portance of a practical use of nature's method, even 
for the last century, the effects of such teaching would 
have been as plainly marked by the improvement in 
man's physical condition, as in his moral condition 
during the same period of obedience to spiritual law. 
If man, during this time, had understood and obeyed 
both the spiritual and physical laws, which act co-op- 
eratively, his improvement, both moral and physical, 
would have been correspondingly progressive. 



CHAPTER VI. 




HOW TO ACQUIRE SELF-CONTROL. 

^'HE sense of feeling is the sympathetic link be- 
tween the soul and body, whose office it is to 
acquaint the mind with the changes which occur from 
any cause in the body. When pressure is made upon 
any part of the body, it produces a consecutive atomic 
disturbance of the nerve fluid from the point pressed to 
the brain ; these disturbances reach the soul, and from 
it, reactively, manifest the sense of feeling at the point 
pressed. Those who feel, upon the pressure of their 
bodies, by themselves or others, nothing but the press- 
ure, are in a negative reactive condition, and cannot, 
in that state, positively utilize the higher virtues of 
the will. Those who not only feel the pressure, but 
also the consecutive atomic disturbances of the nerve 
fluid — the feeling resembling an electric sensation in 
its passage to the brain ; are in reactive harmony 
with the electric system of nature. Such persons can, 
by the special culture of the will, exercise positive 
self-control over the forces of their being. This was 
doubtless the normal condition of the nervous system 
in primitive ages, which was a protection against dis- 
ease, and the cause of longevity in those times. This 
theory is sustained by the fact that there are persons 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 65 

now living, whose nervous systems approximate this 
healthy reactive condition. 

While investigating this subject, w^e have personally 
met a great number of persons whose systems were, 
, more or less, in a condition of harmony ; or, to express 
it more directly, w^ere naturally electrified by the elec- 
tric spirit of the universe. These persons felt the 
atomic disturbance, as well as the pressure. I have 
made special inquiry, in hundreds of instances, as to 
the physical condition of these persons, and not one 
of them could remember having been sick, or 
having suffered pain from disease. Their nervo- 
vital condition had resisted disease, and protected 
them from it, although they had not utilized the 
will in the positive control of the forces of their 
being ; because the positive reactive power of the ner- 
vous system had, insensibly, discharged the molecu- 
lar poisons, or causes of disease, which disturb the 
forces of the body, before they had time to do harm. 
With persons who feel nothing but the pressure, the 
negative condition of the nervous system allows the 
molecular poisons to accumulate, and these accumula- 
tions in the body ultimate in painful diseases, and pre- 
mature death. 

There are, therefore, two vital reactive conditions 
of the nervous system, the positive and the negative, 
which may be known to the individual by the different 
effects produced when making pressure upon any part 
of the body. The positive reactive condition always 
produces the electric sensation, the negative, only 
the feeling of the pressure. There is always present 



66 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

with the positive condition, a soft, flexible feel- 
ing of the skin, which is more or less absent with 
the negative. The negative condition does not neces- 
sarily indicate a diseased state of the body, but is one 
of health in proportion as it approximates the positive 
condition. The positive condition is necessary, how- 
ever, to the exercise of the higher executive functions 
of the will. 

When it is found upon trial, that the nervous system 
is in a positive state, or approximating its full amount 
of nerve fluid or force, persons thus conditioned, can, 
by practically observing the following directions, in- 
crease their will power so as to be able, at pleasure, 
to produce positive changes in the thought force, re- 
sulting in either pleasure or pain ; which changes will 
be as perceptible to ccmsciousness, as those produced 
by outside objects or circumstances, against the will. 

First subjugate the power of the will by physical 
pressure, thus : Clasp the left hand with the right, 
and place the thumb of the right hand in the palm of 
the left, press the palm with the thumb hard and con- 
tinuously ; close your eyes and you will find that you 
cannot get them open while the pressure is continued. 
But, when you stop the pressure, your eyes will open. 
The will has not yet the power to positively change 
and control the forces of the body, simply by mental 
effort. Now put your foot in motion and make press- 
ure in the palm of the hand, as before, and you will 
find that the pressure continuously made, will keep the 
foot in motion in despite of your efforts to stop it. 
When you stop the pressure the foot is again under 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 6/ 

the control of the will, as it was before the experi- 
ment. As your action at the time corresponded to 
the objective impressional influence made by the press- 
ure, the experiment shows that the pressure changed 
and directed a greater amount of thought force than 
the will did. In order to transfer the amount of influ- 
ence exercised by the pressure, to the will, so that the 
will can subjugate this influence, and prevent it from 
positively directing the force of the soul, the sense of 
feeling must be brought into practical requisition. To 
add the positive influence of the pressure to that of 
the will, place the finger upon the knee, make pressure 
hard enough to feel it, and will earnestly for the press- 
sure made by the finger to produce pain in the knee. 
Much as it may surprise you, the pain will be felt, as 
naturally and really, as pain produced from any other 
cause ; because the same abnormal changes are pro- 
duced in the forces of the soul and body, by the co- 
operation of the impressional influence of the pressure, 
objectively, and that of the will, subjectively. 

In the first experiment, where the pressure positively 
changed and directed, say, fifteen per cent, of the 
thought force, and the will only about five per cent., 
it naturally followed, because of the gravitating laws 
of the soul, which carry thought in the direction of 
the greater impressional influence, that the will could 
not, at the time, open the eyes, or arrest the motion of 
the foot. But, since the last experiment, in which the 
will succeeded in producing pain, you may close your 
eyes, and make pressure on the hand as before, but 
the pressure will not keep your eyes shut, because the 



68 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

will has gained control of the amount of influence 
produced by the pressure. Whereas, before, the will 
could only change and direct five per cent, of the 
thought force, it can now positively change and di- 
rect twenty per cent. This twenty per cent, will ena- 
ble the person who acquires it, to produce, at will, 
pleasant or unpleasant changes in his thought force, as 
perceptible as those produced by outside influences, 
against the will. Unless a man who has obtained this 
sovereignty over himself, is subjected to an influence 
which will put into positive action more than twenty 
per cent, of his vital force, he could not be con- 
trolled in any sense by it, because of the counter change 
he is able to produce by the power of his will. 

In order to perfect this acquired self-control so that 
it may become constiti^itional, or a part of the man's 
nature, it is necessary to practice it until the individual 
can, at will, produce pleasant or painful feelings in any 
part of his body. To will the sense of feeling away 
from the hand, and restore it again ; to produce sick- 
ness of the stomach, and cure it; in fact almost any 
physical exercise of the body that may suggest itself, 
will be useful practice for perfecting and making per- 
manent the sovereignty of the will. The practical 
exercise of this will power is a most perfect protection 
against physical pain. As we have said before, it is 
possible to all persons whose bodies are in a positive 
reactive state. Such persons are, however, compara- 
tively few in number, but it may be acquired to a 
greater or less degree by those whose nervous systems 
are not conditioned for the immediate cultivation of 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 69 

self-control. For such persons we append the follow- 
ing directions, the practical observance of which, will, 
sooner or later, enable them to obtain it. 

The crude electricity of the atmosphere being the 
general source of nerve supply, in order to increase 
the nerve fluid or force, it is necessary to increase 
the nervo-vital inspiration of this electricity. This can 
only be done, in a special reactive sense, by control- 
ling thought. 

Place the thumb of the right hand upon the pulse 
at the wrist of the left, or vice versa, or upon any 
other part of the body preferred; make the pressure 
just hard enough to feel it, and make an honest 
and sincere effort to think of nothing but the 
feeling of the pressure made by the thumb or 
finger. When you endeavor to do this, you will 
discern that excitement, or the inability to control 
thought, will consciously and constantly present to the 
mind things you have done, or intend to do, until your 
will, assisted by the pressure, is able to confine thought 
without wavering, to the feeling of it. Just in propor- 
tion as your will, and the pressure you are making, can 
free the conscious domain from these exciting influences, 
will the nerve fluid increase in amount and reactive 
stamina. This is because the excitement of the mind 
attracts to the brain the subjective nervo-vital force, 
which would, otherwise, promote the inspiration of the 
crude electricity of the atmosphere by the surface, and 
thus increase the nerve force. 

An effort of from fifteen to twenty minutes duration 
once or twice a day, will be sufficient. Any person 



70 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

who will make this effort to gain self control, with the 
same earnestness he evinces in the acquisition of 
wealth, cannot fail, sooner or later, to place his nervous 
system in the reactive condition necessary to positively 
control his thought force. 

The number of sittings necessary to accomplish this 
result in any given case, cannot be definitely stated, 
but will depend greatly upon the condition of the ner- 
vous system and mind at the beginning. The sittings 
should be alone, and in an atmosphere free from damp- 
ness, and comfortably warm. If but small effects are 
produced by many sittings, the person should not be 
discouraged, as the object in view is of far more value 
than many other objects, to obtain which men have 
spent years of toil and patience. 

Allowing the nerve fluid or force, in a healthy reac- 
tive state of the body, to be one hundred percent., the 
average amount in the present enfeebled condition of 
the nervous system of men is not more than sixty per 
cent; hence there is a loss of forty per cent., compara- 
tively, and the object of this method is to regain that 
loss. 

You can readily ascertain the progress you are mak- 
ing immediately af^er each effort or sitting, in this 
way: Press the back of the left hand with the thumb 
of the right, or press the finger upon any part of the 
body, and if you feel nothing but the pressure, although 
you may have gained nerve fluid or force, you are not 
yet in a condition to proceed to the direct culture of 
the will. Some have followed these directions manv 
months before the sense of feeling could recognize the 



THE sciencp: of self-control. 71 

atomic disturbance of the nerve fluid further than the 
elbow, and although they could not yet exercise posi- 
tive self-control, their health and strength have been 
greatly increased thereby. 

After you have succeeded, however, in producing the 
positive electrical condition, as evidenced by the rec- 
ognition of the atomic disturbances of the nerve fluid or 
force, upon pressure, then follow the directions given 
to those who are in this condition naturally, in order 
to make self-control permanent and constitutional. 

After it has been acquired in this way, it is necessary 
to continue the sittings daily, until positive self-control 
is thoroughly established. After having once gained 
this power, you can easily tell whether the amount 
gained is departing, or has departed, by ascertaining 
whether the atomic disturbance of the nerve fluid is per- 
ceptible to the sense of feeling, upon pressure. It is 
always well to follow the teachings of nature, and as 
many persons in this condition naturally have never 
known pain or sickness, we cannot recommend the ac- 
quisition of this state of the nervous system too highly 
to suffering humanity. 

Having thus obtained the power to direct and con- 
trol thought force at pleasure, all that is necessary to 
counteract any influence produced upon an individual, 
is simply that he will it to depart. We have spoken 
of the virtue of this Godlike supremacy of the will, as a 
protection to the body against disease and pain; its in- 
fluence is just as potent in the promotion of the intel- 
lectual and moral progress of the race. It is, indeed, 
the most extraordinary dispositional gift of God to 



72 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROT.. 

man. It is symptomatic of the restoration of the 
electrical and psychological systems of man. By the 
exercise of this power he can direct his thoughts to the 
cultivation of his mind, and obtain a rapid acquaintance 
with any department of art or science, acquiring as 
much knowledge in three months, as he could without 
it in twelve. 

The creature, by and through his own faithful 
works, obtains this physical and psychological condi- 
tion. No other person can confer it upon him ; and 
yet it is not by works alone that this high condition is 
acquired, but rather by works as a co-operative means, 
that prepare the creature for the higher inspirational 
influx of the spirit of matter, which is no respecter of 
persons, but contributes freely physical and psycholog- 
ical health to any that* are ready to receive it. Work 
and care of one's self, in a physical and psychological 
sense, is as necessary as is the work of the farmer as a 
means essential to an abundant harvest. Nature 
teaches every man plainly, and with mathematical cer- 
tainty, what is incumbent upon him for his physical 
and psychological reformation; without which. Godlike 
harmony can never obtain in man and between men; 
and without which denominational Christianity can 
never unite as one in the great work of a true and pro- 
gressive reformation. It does not follow that every 
man who is possessed of a harmonious physical and 
psychological nature, and of a will power capable of 
demonstrating positive changes in his thought force, 
is, necessarily, possessed with all the Christian graces; 
but the power of self-control is the rock upon which 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 73 

Christ built His Church, and against which, when the 
higher Christian graces are added into it, the gates of 
hell shall not prevail. 

Since the spirituality of man, in his present state, is 
as far removed from its harmonious relationship to the 
omnipresent spirit of God, as the vitality of the body 
is from the spirit of matter ; and, since the one 
acts through the other as a co-operative means, the 
restoration of both is necessary to the activity of man's 
higher nature, to the growth of his spirituality, and to 
true Christianity. Those who can exercise posi- 
tive self-control, can easily subjugate the circumstan- 
tial influences of evil by counter changes of thought, 
and thus prevent the dispositional fall in the direction 
of wrong ; while those who cannot exercise positive 
self-control, are obliged to rely upon the circumstan- 
tial influences for good, as counter impressions to evil, 
and are, therefore, far more liable to err. 

This condition naturally bestows upon those who 
are so happy as to attain it, that blessed spirit of con- 
tent which other men seek in vain for, through their 
lives. As man has not the capacity to be satisfied 
with, or to love his neighbor, as long as the thorns of 
discontent prick his own soul, this power of self- 
control conditions him, not only to love God more, 
but also to feel a natural and kindly interest in the 
welfare of others, through a spirit of love, and not for 
the sake of reward. 

Infidelity, in its various forms, may make its converts 
by thousands ; but nature and the laws of the soul 
will corrtinue to demand obedience to the example 



74 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

and spirit of Christ as the only method to a true 
reformation. 

When the Christian minister and missionary shall 
be able practically to manifest the spirit of self-control, 
and to add it to his other Christian graces, the great- 
est difficulty in the conversion of other peoples to the 
religion of Christ will have been overcome. This 
power will contradistinguish him from those to whom 
he may be sent, so that the most ignorant cannot fail 
to see in him a living example of the religion he 
teaches ; and this will greatly enlarge his influence, 
and enable him to persuade men to take upon them- 
selves a yoke so easy, a burden so light. 

The law of cause and effect; is as inflexible, when 
applied to things spiritual as to things material. 
Every good deed performed in a spirit of love, implies 
the activity of man's higher nature, and all such ac- 
tivity is rewarded by an influx of the spirit of God into 
the soul ; just as every effort at self-control is rewarded 
by an influx of the spirit of matter into the body. 

Children born of parents who exercise positive self- 
control, would, necessarily, be born in good health and 
without the heritage of suffering entailed by the sins 
of their ancestors, and there would' soon be no more 
occasion to quote the proveib : '' The fathers have eaten 
sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge." 
Each human being born free from hereditary taint, 
and in a healthy physical condition, would find it more 
easy to practice self-control than did his parents ; and 
so successive generations would transmit to their 
progeny increased will power, until mankind would 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 75 

gradually regain the long lost heritage of peace and 
harmony with the spirit of God. 

Neither the wars of races nor of nations can assist 
in bringing about this prospectively happy result ; but 
to obtain the spirit of self-control, each human being 
must war with himself. This individual responsibility 
cannot be too strongly impressed ; for individual effort 
must lay the foundation for a true and progressive 
Christian philosophy, which will enable men to ration- 
ally comprehend what is meant by Christian perfection 
or sanctification. 



CHAPTER VII, 



USE AND ABUSE OF THE POWER OF CONXENTRATION. 

^^^HE power of concentration, or the ability to con- 
Ms^ fine thought exclusively to one subject, at will, 
and to hold it there without intermission, as long as 
necessary, is an aid to success in ev^ery occupation. A 
man who possesses this power will find that life is bet- 
ter worth the living because he has it, and that it is a 
material aid toward intellectual and moral progress. 
Some children are b(5rn with this power so well devel- 
oped that they manifest it early in life. We often see 
them, when at play, persist in what they are doing 
with an earnestness that might well put to shame 
many of their elders, who display comparatively little 
of it in the prosecution of their business. The power 
to concentrate thought upon one subject, without 
wavering, is indicative of the ability to change the di- 
rection of thought at pleasure. For this reason, the 
use of this power does not bring about an unbalanced 
condition of the forces of the body, but is significant 
of a state of accord between the nervous system and 
its outside source of nourishment. 

Continuous mental effort, when directed by the will, 
does not fatigue the body, as does the mental work 
characterized by the intermittent activities of thought; 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. jy 

because this lack of the power to hold thought to its 
purpose, is significant of a want of accord between the 
nervous system and its outside source of sustenance. 
The power of concentration enables men to search, 
untiringly, the hiciden realms of the unknown, and to 
bring forth new discoveries that benefit mankind. 
This is the power of genius^ a power possessed by few, 
but one that it is possible for many to acquire. 

Just here it may be well to notice the difference 
in the effects produced between the action of thought 
directed exclusively to one subject, by the will, and 
the action of thought directed to one subject continu- 
ously, b}' circumstances, irrespective of the will. In 
the one case, the man who has the power to concen- 
trate thought upon any one subject at will, has also 
the power to change the subject of thought at pleas- 
ure ; while the man whose thought force is directed 
continuously to one subject, by circumstances, has not 
the power to change the subject of thought at pleasure. 
In the latter case, thought will continue to dwell on 
the one subject, in spite of the will, except when tem- 
porarily directed to other subjects by circumstantial 
influences. The man thus becomes the creature of 
the one dominating, absorbing thought, and ultimately 
it makes him insane. The highest theme of thought 
is God ; but as the law that governs man's thought 
force is inflexible, even this subject indulged in for too 
great a length of time, or until thought subjugates the 
will, must result in insanity. I once saw a man in an 
asylum, who seemed to be rational except in the be- 
lief that he was Jesus Christ, No argument or influ- 



78 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

ence could change this behef. Such cases of insanity, 
or monomania, are not uncommon, and are each and 
all, referable to the lack of power to direct thought, 
at will. The man who can direct thought at will, will 
never become insane while he possesses this power. 

The same power of the mind that enables one man 
to climb the heights of genius, may send another to 
an insane asylum. The only difference being that the 
man who can direct his power of concentration, be- 
comes a useful member of society ; while the man who 
allows circumstantial influences to direct it, until his 
will is subjugated, is sure to become mentally enfeebled 
or insane. As we have said, the ability to concentrate 
thought to one subject by the will,, is indicative of a 
more or less harmonious relation of the nervous sys- 
tem to its natural source of sustenance. This being 
the case, the possessor of this power may strengthen 
it, and acquire positive control over the forces of his 
being, by following the directions already given, until 
liQ is able, at will, to produce pleasurable or painful 
impressions upon himself, stronger than those produced 
by circumstances upon him. Every man must be able 
to do this before he can have positive self-controL 

Many strong-minded men think they have will 
power. They are very positive that they have. If 
you should ask any number of such men if they had 
the power to go to sleep at night, after a day devoted 
to absorbing business that was still unfinished, and re- 
quired nice adjustment to bring it to a profitable issue, 
many would say no, they could not sleep. That they 
were kept awake by the thought of business that pur- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELP'-CONTROL. 79 

sued them to their beds and invaded the hours that 
should have been spent in recuperating the nervous 
system by sleep. A man may have endurance, perse- 
verance, stubborness, and concentration, and yet not 
have self-control. A man may endure pain, he may 
voluntarily inflict upon himself physical torture ; but 
unless he also has the power to inflict upon himself, 
subjectively, the same pain as that which was the re- 
sult of the physical torture, and to remove this pain 
at pleasure, he hcis not the control of the forces of his 
being, and has not, therefore, positive self-control. 
This practical ^vill power can be acquired by every ra- 
tional being, when the necessary conditions exist, and 
are complied with. 

Since a positive and practical use of the w^ill cannot 
be developed or utilized if a deteriorated condition of 
the nervous system exists, it is just as necessary that 
physiology should teach the true method by which the 
nervous system is sustained and recuperated, as it is 
that mental philosophy should teach the true method 
of will culture. No matter how strong the mind may 
be, mental effort alone will never enable a man to 
utilize the higher virtues of the will, as long as the 
nervous system is not in harmony with its outside 
source of sustenance — the electric spirit of the atmos- 
phere. The moral and intellectual faculties may be, 
andare, developed by the many educational methods 
in use for that purpose, and man is thus enabled to 
utilize them measurably ; but not in a positive man- 
ner, unless he has also been taught to practically util- 
ize his will power. 



8o THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

When there is a deficiency of nerve force, both men- 
tal and physical labor are more apt to be attended by 
fatigue or exhaustion, because the nerve waste occa- 
sioned by such labor, is greater than the supply. This 
waste can only be regained by sleep or repose. The 
fact that this quiescent state of the body increases the 
vital respiration of the nerves of the surface, may sug- 
gest the question : If the normal amount of nerve 
force was, say one hundred per cent., as indicative of 
the primal state of accord between the nervous system 
and its outside source of sustenance, why is it that a 
lack of this full amount of nerve force, which was lost 
through the transgressions of preceding generations, 
is not restored by sleep or repose..^ If the normal 
amount of nerve force was one hundred per cent., and 
the average man is born with only sixty per cent., and 
there is a waste of ten per cent, of the sixty, occa- 
sioned by mental or physical labor, sleep or repose 
can restore only the ten per cent, thus wasted, and not 
the lacking forty per cent. The deteriorated condition 
indicated by the lack of the forty per cent, of nerve 
force, was not entailed upon man by the conduct of 
his ancestors, during sleep or repose ; but by the con- 
scious and wide-awake violation of the laws that gov- 
ern the soul and body, or by conscious excitement. The 
forty per cent, can be restored to mankind only by 
obedience to these laws, or by conscious self-control. 

Any method that can be pursued while in a conscious 
state, which will promote a positive influx of the elec- 
tric spirit by increasing the respiration of the nerves of 
the surface, and which will, at the same time, equalize 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 8 1 

the extra amount thus received, throughout the nerv- 
ous system, is the proper method to be utilized for the 
restoration of the lacking forty per cent, of nerve 
force. This method, of course, must be one which 
will prevent the subjugation of the will by thought; 
because, as long as the will is thus subjugated, the 
nervous system cannot regain the nerve force, or spirit, 
lost through the fall of man. Some may think that a 
state of the body which is induced by a mental effort 
to concentrate and confine thought upon one subject 
or thing, for a given length of time, is the best means 
for regaining the lost forty per cent, of nerve force or 
power. But any method that makes the brafn the 
point of reaction in the system, during the effort to 
control thought, necessarily draws, more or less, an 
extra amount of nerve force and blood to the brain. 
The extra amount of nerve force, or spirit, inspired by 
concentrating thought in this manner, increases in a 
degree this overflow to the brain. Consequently, the 
nerve force thus regained is not equalized through the 
nervous system, as it is found to be in persons who are 
in the normal state of accord. Therefore, it is better 
to use pressure on some part of the body, and, at the 
same time, to make a mental eftbrt to think of nothing 
but the feeling of the pressure. The pressure itself 
assists the will in confining thought to the one subject 
without wavering. The point of reaction being the 
part of the body pressed, instead of the brain, the 
extra amount of nerve force inspired, when this effort 
to control thought succeeds, is equalized, as it is found 
to be in the normal state of accord. After a man, 



82 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

who uses this method to control thought, succeeds in 
so doing, he thus brings about the harmonious relation 
between his nervous system and its outside source of 
nourishment, which is necessary to the inspiration of 
the electricity of the atmosphere. After this con- 
dition of accord is established, the method which in- 
cludes only the mental effort to control thought by 
concentration, will not occasion an overflow of blood 
to the brain, or produce an unequal distribution of the 
nerve force. 

As stated in a previous chapter, a conscious feeling 
of the atomic disturbance of the nervous system, occa- 
sioned' by pressure, determines whether the body is in 
a state of accord or discord. After a man has found, 
by this test, that he is. more or less in a state of accord, 
as a rule, he will not be able, by mental effort alone, 
to cause himself to feel pleasure or pain at will, with- 
out going through the physical exercises : such as 
closing his eyes, and performing other experiments 
upon himself, according to the method given in the 
previous chapter. Had nothing but mental effort been 
necessary to develop the positive virtue of the will, 
many more persons who are naturally in this state of 
accord and health, would have discovered that they 
had the power of positive self-control. If any man 
who finds himself to be naturally in a state of accord, 
will follow the directions already given, until he can 
inflict pain upon himself at will, he will find that he 
can, to a wonderful degree, consciously direct his 
thoughts in the co-operative and more speedy devel- 
opment of his moral and intellectual nature. The will, 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 83 

in this state, subjugates thought in proportion as its 
influence over thought is greater than the influence of 
circumstances, and a corresponding degree of self-con- 
trol will be acquired. After having acquireci this pow- 
er, the person possessing it will find that he can not 
only use it at pleasure for his moral and intellectual 
w^elfare, but that his body is in a state of resistance to 
disease, and his mind in a state of peace and progress. 
The assertion that this method of will culture 
(which embraces these physical exercises as being a 
necessary means for the restoration of the moral ac- 
tivities) is indicated by the teachings of Christ, may 
seem to some to be a sort of sacrilege. But this feel- 
ing cannot exist with those who will impartially in- 
vestigate the subject ; because they will then see that 
the physical exercises are not, of themselves, reli- 
gious exercises, and as such, an innovation of existing 
forms and ceremonies. Although, looking at the mat- 
ter not only from a scientific standpoint, but regarding 
also its moral significance, it would, indeed, be well if 
these physical exercises were substituted for some of 
the popular forms and ceremonies that encourage su- 
perstition by their impressional influence. This part 
of the method of acquiring self-control is a means for 
developing the will of man and enabling him to emu- 
late the example of Christ ; just as the training of the 
intellectual powers, is a means for enabling him to un- 
derstand and obey the precepts of Christ. Earnest 
faith and honest prayer, influence and direct thought 
to the higher faculties of the soul, and thus promote 
the influx of the psychic spirit ; but they do not directly 



84 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

promote the influx of the electric spirit into the bod3^ 
It is not remarkable, therefore, that some persons with 
discordant and diseased bodies, should manifest great 
religious fervor and intellectual power. It is an unde- 
niable fact, however, that such perilous could exercise 
a much greater influence for good if they had healthy 
bodies, and the power to direct their moral and intel- 
lectual faculties, at will. This theory of will power 
and self-control is not an ideal one. It can be demon- 
strated in the most convincing manner by psycho- 
logical experiments, and yet it is not strange that 
there are many wha will not accept it. We have 
found persons wiio were more or less in a state of 
accord with their outside sources of nourishment, and 
wiio, because of this condition, had never known sick- 
ness, who were yet skeptical in regard to the fact that 
the great difference between the vital condition of 
their bodies and that of others, w^as referable to this 
state of the nervous system. If persons in a compara- 
tive state of accord were skeptical, it is not strange 
that those in a state of discord should be. 

One deeply interested in metaphysical investigation, 
and who seeks sincerely and without prejudice for all 
the information it is possible to obtain, will meet with 
wonderful and convincing proof of the co-operative 
existence of physical and psychological kuv for the 
government of soul and body. Some few persons, hav- 
ing accidentally discovered that they could control the 
forces of the body by the positive use of the will, have 
arrested the action of the heart, and performed other 
yncommon physical experiments upon themselves, 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 85 

seemingly, with no better purpose than to show what 
they could do to astonish and confound scientific 
thought. Persons who had the power to perform 
these physical experiments upon themselves, had also 
the power to control and direct their mental activities, 
if they had known it; a power that would have been of 
more value to them than all the treasures of the earth, 
if they had known how to use it. Such persons are 
like a child who finds a diamond of rare value, and 
being pleased with its sparkling beauty, uses it for 
purposes of play, all unconscious of its real worth. 

The difficulty that lies in the way of the restoratipn 
of body and soul, is not referable to the lack of 
the outside means of helpfulness ; but to the shrink- 
age of the nervous system, and the difficulty in con- 
fining thought, by the will, to one subject without 
wavering, for a given length of time. The psychic 
and electric spirit of the universe, are ever present and 
ready to supply the nervous system of the body and 
the psychic system of the soul ; but because of the 
shrinkage of the one, and the discordant condition of 
the other, mankind will have to labor earnestly and 
faithfully to bring about a state of accord. 

There are from two to four persons in a hundred 
who, by trying the directions given in the previous 
chapter, will find that they are more or less in that 
state of accord which will enable them, measurably, 
to control their thoughts. 

There are from six to twelve in a hundred who, if 
they would retire to themselves, sit in an easy posi- 
tion, in a pleasant atmosphere, and follow the rule for 



86 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

cultivating the will for the space of from ten to twenty 
minutes, once a day, for three or four weeks, would 
bring about a like state of the body, so that they, too, 
could manifest more or less control over their thoughts, 
at will. 

' There are from twelve to thirty in a hundred who, 
by following the same directions from six to twelve 
months, would bring about a state of accord which 
would enable them, also, to exercise more or less pow- 
er over their thoughts, at will. 

Of the remainder of the one hundred, the state of 
discord is such, that it might require years to bring 
about a state of accord that would enable them to ap- 
proximate the control exercised by .the others. Al- 
though they might not be able then to manifest the 
higher virtues of the will, yet, every earnest effort, 
made by the method given, to control their thoughts, 
would gradually add to the health and strength of their 
bodies, and would measurably prevent the unrest and 
excitement of their minds. 

If in any one State in the Union every inhabitant 
old enough to understand how to make the effort to 
control thought, would follow the directions, given for 
this purpose, from ten to twenty minutes, in a place 
where they would not be disturbed, every day for the 
space of ten years, at the end of that time, there 
would be a marked improvement in the moral and 
physical condition of the inhabitants of this State, and 
there would be less disease and crime than in any other 
State in the Union. 

Practical experiments in physiology demonstrate. 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 87 

very conclusively, the existence of the thought force 
and the nerve force in man ; and that these are the 
co-operative primal forces that underlie all his physical 
and mental activities. Practical psychological experi- 
ments will demonstrate, just as conclusively, that when 
these two forces in man are in harmony with their out- 
side sources of sustenance, he is in a condition to use 
positive self-control. This being the case, the ques- 
tion will arise : Why have not metaphysicians and 
psychologists taught these facts, so significant of. prog- 
ress in mental philosophy ? A few things in regard to 
the history of practical psychology, m^y answer the 
question. By and through investigating mesmerism, 
and experimenting with it, more than forty years ago, 
we discovered that there were persons who had never 
been subjected to any mesmeric influence, and who did 
not believe in any such influence, who were naturallj^ 
in a condition to be controlled against the will. We 
found by experimenting, that we could take such per- 
sons, in a conscious, waking state, and by making im- 
pressions upon them, after the same manner that 
impressions were made upon them by circumstances, 
that we could control them, just as they were often 
controlled by circumstances against the will. After 
this discovery, mesmerism had no further interest for 
us. We no longer cared to experiment with subjects 
in an abnormal condition, when we could secure sub- 
jects in a natural state, who were conscious of all they 
did, but could not resist the impressions made by the 
operator. By experience with these subjects, we found 
that it Avas necessary to influence the mental system 



(S8 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

by a word, and the physical system by a touch, at the 
same instant, in order to produce satisfactory experi- 
ments. This convinced us of the existence of the 
co-operative primal forces in man, and that these forces 
must be more or less in harmony with their natural 
sources of sustenance, before a subject was in a condi- 
tion to be controlled. We found comparatively few 
who were in this harmonious vital condition natur- 
ally, and it became necessary, therefore, to use a 
method to induce this condition in order to secure 
subjects. Our experience, both as a physician and 
metaphysician, led to the conclusion, that a mental 
effort alone, to concentrate thought to one subject, al- 
though it might promote an influx of the nerve spirit, 
would not produce ttie natural electrical condition ; 
because it made the brain the point of reaction, and 
produced an unequal distribution of the nerve force. 
We, therefore, instructed subjects to make pressure 
upon some part of the body, and to try to concentrate 
thought, without wavering,, upon the feeling of the 
pressure! After adopting this co-operative method, 
we found, that in proportion as the subject was able to 
concentrate thought, at will, that he attained to, or 
approximated, the necessary condition to be experi- 
mented with, and could be controlled in proportion to 
its extent. By securing subjects in this way, and oc- 
casionally finding one in a natural electrical condition, 
we were able to present to the world the phenomena 
known as practical ps)'chology, and to demonstrate it 
by the most convincing physical and mental experi- 
ments. The utility of this science, consisted in its 



THK SCIKXCK OF SKLF-C0NTR(.)1.. 89 

positive demonstration of tlie fact, that the control of 
thought increased the nerve force, and was, in this 
way, conducive to health, and a protection against 
disease. We experimented with this science, many 
years, and taught it to many students before its full 
significance dawned upon us. 

A man cannot teach w4iat he does not know. There 
are many psychologists who have had an earnest de- 
sire to use their knowledge of psychology as a science, 
for the benefit of their fellow men ; but, having only 
this limited knowledge of the subject, they could teach 
no more than the physical benefit to be derived by 
controlling thought, and thereby increasing the amount 
of nerve force, or spirit of the body. By teaching this 
phase of the subject only, they w^ere able to do a vast 
amount of good, and psychology, as it developed 
years ago, has well deserved a place among the useful 
sciences. 

I will say here, however, that very many men who 
have studied practical psychology, and have been able 
to give experiments which demonstrate it, have been 
actuated by motives which have led them to use it in 
such a way as to bring it into disrepute. Some, charmed 
with the amusement the experiments afforded, have 
used it .only for their pleasure. A large number of 
others have used it to gratify their greed of gain, and, 
for this purpose, have made the impression that they 
possessed a superior powder to control men, instead of 
teaching that any other person, wiio had a proper 
knowledge of the science, could give the same demon- 



1 



90 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

strations. Such men have deserved only opprobrium ; 
and, as a rule, have received.it. 

After experimenting- many years, I discovered a fact, 
which of course had always existed, that a subject 
who was in the positive electrical state; could not only 
be controlled by the operator against his will, but that 
such a subject had the power to control the forces of 
his own being, and produce the same mental and 
physical experiments upon himself, as those produced 
upon him, if he knew how to do so. I did not, for some 
time, attach any importance to this discovery, except 
that it enabled me to illustrate by experiment, that 
man, when in the positive electrical state, was in a 
condition to control, at will, the forces of his being. 
^ A full comprehension. of the self-control demonstrated 
in the example of Christ, first led me to suppose that 
this state of accord was indicative of a power in man 
to use positive self-control, and that it was necessary 
for man to use this power, in order to emulate His 
example. A psycholog}^ that embraces and teaches, 
by practical demonstration, man's power to control and 
direct his mental and spiritual activities, as well as his 
physical, is indeed the science of the soul. / 



CHAPTER VIII. 



METHOD OF WILL CULTURE FOR CHILDREN. 

^^^HE most pitiful sight one can ever see in this 
JLU world is a helpless child, born to a heritage of 
suffering, because of the sins of its parents and prede- 
cessors. In the present discordant state of mankind, 
or in the present state of depravity (as some would 
say), children are, as a rule, born with a deficiency of 
nerve force, or spirit. Consequently they are not, 
from the start, in a harmonious relation to the laws 
that govern their being. Because of this condition of 
things, they are more liable to err when they are old 
enough to understand the difference between good and 
evil. The degree of discord that exists at birth can 
always be traced, directly or indirectly, to parents or 
predecessors, or to both. With some unfortunate chil- 
dren, the discordant state is so plainly marked, that 
their condition is indeed pitiable. These helpless little 
sufferers were, literally, *' conceived in sin and brought 
forth in iniquity." And under the existing state of 
things, they are also born to perpetuate iniquity, by 
transmitting it to their offspring. 

Many a philanthropist, whose soul has stirred with 
pity at the sight of an innocent child that, from birth, 
was compelled to suffer for the sins of its ancestors, 



92 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

has been led to question the goodness and mercy of 
God in permitting- these things to be. We must not 
forget that God is the same yesterda^^ to-day and for- 
ever ; that His laws are immutat)le ; that \'iolation of 
hiw always implies sin, and sin punishment ; and that 
in tliis, as in all things else, His wisdom is unquestion- 
able. Yet, with a natural pity for these helpless 
innocents, all good men must devoutly wish that the. 
time may come when children will be born in a con- 
dition so harmonious, that they will be compelled to 
suffer for their own sins only. When parents are able 
to use positive self-control, and can thus cope with the 
influence of circumstances over thought — and, this we 
must remember, implies a condition in wdiich the body 
is free from disease^— they will not transmit to their 
children a heritage of unrest and disease ; and their 
children, in turn, will have a like immunity from in- 
herited suffering. There is a reasonable and practical 
way to bring' about this much to be desired state of 
affairs. It cannot be done in a day, it cannot be done 
soon ; but it can be done. 

We have given a practical method of will culture 
for adults, wdiich, if practiced, cannot fail to produce 
tlie most satisfactory results. But it is far more im- 
portant to introduce a method of will culture for chil- 
dren. If children are taught early in life to direct 
thought by a practical use of the will, they will not 
have to combat the influence of circumstances over 
the will, and the good results will be more easily pro- 
duced. With children, will culture should take the 
precedence of all other mental culture. ' It should 



THE SCIENCE OE SELE-CONTKOL. 93 

beg'in as soon as the child is old enough to understand 
what is required of him. If intellectual culture begins 
first, the impressions made upon the mind, especially 
if the natural intellectual development is good, puts 
the brain into positive action, and if great care is not 
exercised to prevent it, there is danger of increasing 
the discordant state of the body, and of decreasing 
what little will power may naturally be possessed. If 
will culture is begun before the mind is put upon a 
strain by other educational influences, the direction of 
thought, by the will, will naturalh^ take the precedence 
of all other controlling impressions. And when the 
time arrives for the special development of the intel- 
lectual faculties, by educational means, the amount of ^ 
will power acquired by this early training, will enable 
children to hold thought to one subject. They will 
then be able to learn as much in one year as they would 
in two or three }'ears, without will culture. They will 
also be able to acquire knowledge without deteriora- 
ting in any w^ay the powers of the mind, or the health 
of the bod}\ 

A much greater number of children than adults can 
acquire positive self-control, because their thoughts 
have not been subjected to the circumstantial influ- 
ences of life which so often subjugate the w^ll. Adults 
have to combat the influence which circumstances have 
already acquired over the will. Children have not this 
disadvantage. But even with very young children, 
there is the same marked difference in the natural 
ability to acquire positive will power, that there is in 
adults. This ability is always more or less in proper- 



94 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

tion to the pre-natal development of the mental facul- 
ties, and the state of the physical system at the time 
of birth. Children who approximate a state of accord 
at birth, will acquire positive will power, hy the use of 
the methods I shall give, much more readily than oth- 
ers, who are in a more discordant state ; and some 
may not be able to manifest positive results at all, be- 
cause of their diseased and discordant condition. 
Mothers, or others who may teach this method of will 
culture, must not expect greater results than can be 
obtained with such conditions as may exist. It may 
be well to say here, that children do not always begin 
life with the amount of nerve force which they have 
, naturally inherited from comparatively healthy parents; 
because too much haste is used in separating them 
after birth from the placenta. By this practice the 
child is, in a measure, deprived of the vital force which 
it shouj^d receive from the placenta, its fetal source of 
life and sustenance. The popular practice is to ligate 
the umbilical cord, and clip it soon after birth ; or to 
wait only a few minutes for the pulsation of the cord 
to cease. The better way, is to wait until the placenta 
has cooled off, when there will be no necessity for 
ligating to prevent hemorrhage. Extreme cases, only, 
that are rarely encountered, justify haste. As we have 
shown, children have enough of inherited evil with 
which to begin the battle of life ; let them not also, 
have the disadvantage of being deprived, by accouch- 
ers, of a part of their natural amount of vitality. 

As a means for the restoration of the vital enabling 
force in children, we recommend the following co-op- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 95 

erative method of concentrating thought. As soon as 
children are old enough to be capable of understand- 
ing what is required of them, instruct them to sit down 
in a pleasant atmosphere, away from disturbing influ- 
ences, and have them close their eyes to shut out from 
sight external objects. Tell them to make pressure 
with the thumb of the right hand upon the wrist of 
the left (this pressure may just as. well be made upon 
any other part of the hand, if it is more convenient); 
let the pressure be made hard enough to feel it sensi- 
bly ; instruct them to keep their eyes closed, and try 
to think of nothing but the feeling of the pressure- 
Let them follow these directions, from five to twenty 
minutes, once or twice a day, and as near the same 
hour each day as possible. When there are several 
children in a family, they can follow the directions to- 
gether, if one docs not disturb another. They should 
not follow the directions at any one time longer than 
is pleasant for them. They should never be compelled 
to follow the directions against their will, because the 
excitement induced by resistance would lessen the 
powx'r of concentration, and defeat the purpose in 
view. Just in proportion as children wTio follow these 
directions, may" become able to confine thought exclu- 
sively to the feeling of the pressure they make, will 
they increase the respiratory action of the surface, and 
promote the direct influx of the electricity of the at- 
mosphere. This will bring about a state of accord on 
the part of the body, and, in proportion as it does, will 
enable it to resist disease. 

After children have followed these directions for a 



96 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

week or two, unless their systems are very discordant, 
they will generally take such pleasure in making the 
effort to concentrate thought, that merely calling their 
attention to the time for doing so, will be all that is 
necessary. It will be more difficult to* persuade chil- 
dren who are ten or twelve years old to make the ef- 
fort to concentrate thought by following these direc- 
tions, than it will be to persuade younger children to 
do so. Older children, especially if they are the off- 
spring of parents who are discordant, and who de- 
spitefully use them, will, already, have had their 
thought force directed b}' circumstantial influences, 
and must necessarily begin at a disadvantage. But 
they, in common with the younger children, may be 
persuaded to follow the directions, and after a time, 
they, too, will take pleasure in the effort. Sometimes 
young children, when following the directions, forget 
to continue the pressure, and fall into a sound recu- 
perative sleep, in which they should not be disturbed, 
but allowed to awake of their own accord. 

This method of developing the power of concentra- 
tion, is the preparatory method of will culture. It can 
be used beneficially by all ; but the- special method can 
only be used by those who are more of lesfs in a state 
of accord. The preparatory method should be used 
in the training of children, from two to four years, be- 
fore they are sent to school to be subjected to the 
special training of the intellectual faculties. It is 
necessary to commence will culture as early as possi- 
ble, because it will enable the will to give the first in- 
fluential direction to thought. This preparatory method 



THE SCrENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 97 

is used for the purpose of placing the body in that state 
of accord and health which is the necessary condition 
for special will culture. And its use must be continued, 
daily, until the children are in a condition to utilize 
the special method, which we shall give further on. 

In order to ascertain, at any time, if the nervous 
system is in a state of harmony with the electric spirit 
of the atmosphere, clasp the left hand of the little boy, 
or girl, with your right hand, and make pressure with 
your thumb, just above the middle finger, hard enough 
for him to feel it sensibly ; then ask if he feels anything 
except the pressure- you are making upon the hand. 
He may reply that he does feel a sensation passing up 
his arm. In order to ascertain whether he really feels 
the atomic disturbance of the nervous system, caused 
by the pressure, or whether he imagines that he feels 
something strange, instruct him to close his eyes, 
then say to him: " You cannot open your eyes" (as if 
you meant it); and at the same instant that you speak 
these words, make pressure upon his hand with your 
thumb, as before, continuing to repeat these w^ords 
quickly (making the pressure at each repetition of 
them), until you ascertain whether he can or cannot 
open his tyes. If he cannot open them, say to him : 
" All right ! " without accompanying the words by the 
pressure. This will remove the influence, and he will 
be able to open his eyes at once. Occasionally the 
impression may be made so strongly that the eyes will 
not open at the word, and it may take the same amount 
of influence to open them that it did to close them. 
When this is the case, make pressure on some part of 



98 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the body, and at the same instant say, earnestly: " Now 
you can open your eyes." This influence will cause him 
to open them. If, however, nothing were done to oc- 
casion him to open them, the influence that closed 
them would pass away itself, and he would open them 
na-turally after a short time. The teacher should never 
manifest any anxiety when he is not able to remove 
the influence immediately, either after this, or any 
other experiment, as no harm can possibly come from 
allowing the influence to remain until it passes off 
naturally. In using this test, it is very necessary to 
make the pressure at the same instant that the words 
are spoken ; because the thought foi'ce which is influ- 
enced by a word, and the nerve force which is influ- 
enced by a touch, act co-operatively, and must be 
influenced at the same time. If he is not controlled 
by the word and the pressure, and opens his eyes, you 
may know that he imagined that he felt a sensation 
in his arm, and that he is not yet in the condition 
necessary to begin using the special method of will 
culture. If, however, he cannot open his eyes, you 
may know that his body is, more or less, in a state of 
accord, and that he is in a condition to commence the 
individual cultivation and development of the higher 
powers of the will, to which the following method is 
especially adapted : 

In order to instruct the child how to control himself, 
have him close his eyes and try to keep them closed 
by the word and pressure, as you did before, until you 
find that he cannot open them, and then remove the 
influence. Now^ tell him to close his eyes again, and 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 99 

to make the pressure with his right hand upon the left 
himself, and to try, at the same instant that he makes 
the pressure, to open his eyes. You will find, if he 
makes the mental effort and the pressure at the same 
instant, that his eyes will remain closed, against his 
will, just as they did when you made the impression. 
In other words, that he will have the same powder to 
control himself that you had to control him. Have 
him practice this experiment upon himself for several 
days, or until it is perfected. 

Now, for the next experiment : Take hold of his 
left hand with your right, and tell him to commence 
making a motion with his foot. Make the pressure 
upon his hand as you did before, and at the same in- 
stant say, earnestly, "You cannot stop the motion." 
Repeat these words in quick succession, making the 
pressure each time at the same instant in which you 
repeat them, as long as seems necessary to acquire 
enough control over him, against his w^ill, to keep the 
foot in motion. If he cannot stop the motion, under 
the influence of your words and pressure, you may be 
sure he is making good progress in the direction of 
positive will culture ; because it takes a greater amount 
of vital force to keep the foot in motion than it does 
to open the eyes. To remove the influence you exer- 
cise over him, after each experiment say to him : "All 
right !" without making the pressure, and this will 
counteract it. In order to teach him how to exercise 
the same amount of control over himself, that you have 
exercised over him by this experiment, instruct him 
to set the foot in motion and to make the pressure, 



lOO THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

himself, and at the same instant that he makes the 
pressure, to make the mental effort to stop the motion. 
If he makes the pressure and the mental effort at the 
same instant, the motion of his foot will continue, 
against his will, just as it did when you made the im- 
pression, until he removes the pressure ; then the foot 
will again be under the control of his will. Let him 
practice this experiment upon himself, until he is fa- 
miliar with it before commencing another. 

For the next experiment. Let him sit in a chair, make 
the pressure upon his hand, as you did before, and at 
the same instant say to him, earnestly, ''You cannot 
get up ! " Repeat the words and pressure, simultane- 
ously, as often as may be necessary to keep him in the 
chair against his will. When you find that he cannot 
get up, remove the influence, by the directions already 
given. As it takes a greater amount of vital force to 
raise the body than it does to move the foot, if you 
succeed in keeping him in the chair, this will indicate 
that his system is in a still higher state of accord. Now 
in order to teach him how to acquire the greater de- 
gree of control indicated by this experiment, tell him 
again to sit in the chair, and to place both hands on 
his knees, to press his knees hard, and try, at the same 
instant, to get up. Again, if he makes the pressure at 
the same instant that he makes the mental effort to 
rise, he will be kept in the chair against his will, just 
as he was when you made the impressions upon him. 
Let him practice this, and the other experiments upon 
himself, until he can manifest naturally the degree of 
control indicated by each of them. This last experi- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. lOl 

ment shows that he can control all the activities of 
his body, by physical pressure, against his will ; and 
he is now ready to transfer the amount of influence 
which the pressure exercised over him, to the will. 
The amount of influence, exercised over him by the 
pressure, against his will, can only be transferred to 
the will by experiment. In order to do this, make 
pressure with the finger upon his knee. At the same 
instant that you make the pressure, say to him, as if 
you meant it, ''You have pain in your knee." Repeat 
these words, and make the pressure at the same in- 
stant, several times, or as often as may be necessary to 
produce the impression, against his will, of pain in the 
knee. After you have succeeded in performing this 
experiment, you may be assured that he approximates 
that condition in which the highest control over 
thought, by the will, may be manifested. Now in order 
to transfer this influence to the will, tell him to make 
pressure, himself, upon his knee, and at the same in- 
stant, to will with all his might, for the pain in the 
knee to re-occur ; and if he makes the pressure at the 
same instant that he makes the will effort, he will feel 
the pain in the knee, as sensibly as he did when you 
made the impressions. To remove the pain, instruct 
him to cease making the pressure, and to will the pain 
to depart. When he has succeeded thus in inflicting 
pain upon himself, and removing it, let him practice 
this experiment until he has become perfect in it ; and 
then he will have attained the condition in which he 
will be able to exercise positive self-control over the 
forces of his being. This will enable him to open his 



102 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

eyes, to stop the motion of his foot or to rise from the 
chair in despite of his OAvn influence, or that of any 
one else. All he will have to do to inflict pain upon 
any part of the body at any time, is to willit to occur. 
The harmonious condition indicated by this positive 
will power, will not only protect the body from disease, 
but will enable him to relieve himself of any pain con- 
sequent upon injuries not of a nature to produce death. 
As this is a condition in which thought is naturally 
attracted to the higher faculties of the mind, it will 
enable him to acquire knowledge with astonishing 
rapidity. 

In order to confirm this power of self-control with 
children, it will be necessary for th^m to follow the 
directions given in tke preparatory method, at least 
once a day, until it becomes as natural to them to con- 
trol their mental activities, as it is for them to move 
the body. 

The number of children of this generation who will 
be able to acquire this positive self-control will be 
comparatively few ; but there will be a great many who 
will be able to acquire a degree of control that will 
be of great benefit to them, both physically and men- 
tally. The number that will be able to acquire it, in 
each succeeding generation, will be greater and greater; 
until, in time, this greatest of all blessings will be be- 
stowed upon all mankind. 

We would say to parents and teachers, that this 
method of will culture is not founded upon theory 
alone. We have demonstrated upon children, every 
experiment herein recommended, hundreds of times. 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. IO3 

and always with beneficial results. We are, therefore, 
well assured that this is a practical way to improve 
the condition of children, morally and physically. 
This being the case, their helpless condition appeals 
to us all the more strongly. They have not the power 
to help themselves ; parents and teachers must help 
them. After using this method until the will has ob- 
tained, more or less, the direction of thought, children 
will naturally become more obedient, and parents will 
find it much easier to control them by this means than 
to compel obedience from them by punishment. If 
they will remember that the lack of self-control in 
their children exists because they have transmitted it 
to them, they will be more patient, and will seek earn- 
estly to counteract the wrong for which they are 
measurably responsible. 



CHAPTER IX 




EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. 

^OME so-called psychologists have supposed that 
their power to control others against their will 
was a gift. Others have thought that the subjects con- 
trolled by them had weaker minds, or less will power 
than themselves. And yet others have imagined 
themselves to be positive, and their subjects negative. 
It is not necessary that a psychologist should have 
more nerve force or will power than the subject. It is 
only necessary that the operator should be intelligent 
enough to understand the science in order to present 
its phenomena. Further than this, neither his mental 
nor physical condition have anything to do with his 
success in experimenting. The influence of the psy- 
chologist over his subject is impressional, and is sim- 
ply a reproduction of the impressions made upon the 
thought force, by the circumstances of every-day life. 
If the circumstantial impressions of every-day life did 
not control persons against their will, it would be im- 
possible for an operator to control his subjects against 
their w^ill. After a man has acquired positive self-con- 
trol, neither a psychologist nor any one else, can influ- 
ence or direct his thought force against his will, be- 
cause he possesses a greater power to direct it himself 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 165 

All the mental activities, of every name and nature, 
are referable to the thought force. A man's actions 
will, therefore, correspond to the greatest influence 
exercised over his thoughts. This inflexible law of the 
soul fully explains why it is possible for one person to 
exercise a controlling influence over another. A plus 
amount of thought force directed, circumstantially, to 
mirthfulness, makes a man laugh ; just as a plus amount 
of nerve force directed to the liver causes it to pour 
out its secretions more abundantly. At the time that 
a plus amount of thought force is directed to any one 
faculty of the mind, the other faculties are, more or 
less, in a state of negative action. In other words, 
when a man is thoroughly angry, he does not laugh or 
reason. The psychologist must recognize this law in 
his efforts to reproduce mental impressions. He can, 
by directing thought to any one faculty of the mind, 
make the actions of his subject correspond to the na- 
ture of that faculty ; just as circumstantial influences 
do, in every-day life. 

Psychological phenomena, in contradistinction to 
mesmeric, is always presented when the subject is in 
the full possession of his senses, in a wide-awake, con- 
scious state. The subject know^s all he is doing, but 
cannot help acting in accordance with the influence 
exercised over him, because this influence is greater 
than that of his will power to prevent it. As this is a 
natural condition, the subject also remembers what he 
has done, after the influence that produced the experi- 
ment is counteracted. In psychological experiments 
we have, then, a practical manifestation of the law of 



I06 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the soul, which always makes, a man's actions corre- 
spond to the greatest impressional influence made upon 
his thought force. 

As we have said, the physical condition of the oper- 
ator has nothing to do with the success of the experi- 
ments. Positive and negative conditions are necessary 
to the operation of the law that governs matter. 
Mind is attracted and repelled by impressional influ- 
ences, only. As circumstances impressionally direct 
and control thought, whether the nervous system is 
in a state of accord or discord, the question may be 
asked : Why is it that a psychologist cannot always 
present the experimental phenomena ? Why is it that 
he cannot control another by impressional influence 
against the will, irrespective of the vital condition, 
just as circumstances do ? Circumstances in every-day 
life influence persons against the will, irrespective of 
the condition of the nervous system ; but an operator 
cannot reproduce these circumstantial impressions un- 
less the nervous system is in a state of accord. This 
vital condition of the subject is absolutely necessary, 
and the success of the operator is dependent upon it. 
The degree of control which he can exercise over a 
subject, will always depend upon the more or less har- 
monious condition of the nervous system ; and the 
higher experiments can only be given when the sub- 
ject is in the positive electrical state. 

A discordant state of the nervous system indicates, 
more or less, a lack of nerve force or spirit. This lack 
must be supplied from the electric spirit of the atmos- 
phere, by the conscious restraint of thought, before a 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. ID/ 

subject will approximate that harmonious or psychol- 
ogical condition in which a few persons are found to 
be naturally. As the electric spirit of the atmosphere, 
irrespective of belief or disbelief, charges the body with 
nervo vitality, conditionally, through the nervous sys- 
tem, it is important that the operator should see that 
the necessary conditions are complied with. No per- 
son in a discordant state can, by the conscious restraint 
of thought, or by any other means, induce the psy- 
chological condition in a room where the electric ma- 
chine will not give off sparks, or where the atmosphere 
is damp, or the temperature uncomfortable. The nerve 
force and thought force are blended apparently as one, 
and are ever in a relation of helpfulness to each other. 
The nerve force, co-operatively, helps the thought 
force in the work of producing the mental activities ; 
and the thought force, in turn, helps the nerve force 
in producing the physical activities. At the time that 
the activities of thought are not restrained, the nerve 
force is more or less attracted to the brain, and, in 
proportion as this is the case, the respiration of the 
electricity of the atmosphere, by the surface, becomes 
less and less. But, when the activities of thought are 
restrained, the amount of nerve force that was concen- 
trated at the brain, distributes itself equally through- 
out the nervous system, and the vital respiration of 
the electricity of the atmosphere is thereby increased. 
This being the case, the psychologist must, in order to 
secure his subjects, use the best method for promoting 
the respiratory influx of the electricity of the atmos- 
phere into the nervous system. The co-operative 



I08 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

method which includes the concentration of thought 
to the feehng of a pressure made on some part of the 
body, is the best one for this purpose ; because it makes 
that part of the body on which the pressure is made, 
the point of reaction instead of the brain. This part 
of the subject has been more fully explained in a pre- 
vious chapter. 

To electrify or prepare subjects to be experimented 
with : Tell them to sit in a comfortable position, either 
apart from, or with others who may wish to follow the 
directions, as they may prefer. Instruct them to make 
pressure, just hard enough to feel it sensibly, with the 
thumb of the right hand upon the wrist or pulse of 
the left, to close their eyes, and try to think of noth- 
ing but the feeling oT the pressure. Let them follow 
these directions from ten to fifteen minutes. If any 
who follow the directions have been able to confine 
thought to the feeling of the pressure for four or five 
minutes only, you will be able to control them against 
the will, in proportion as they have done so, and have 
induced the electrical condition. In order to ascer- 
tain if any have electrified thems,elves sufficiently to 
be experimented with, take each one by the hand, and 
make pressure just above the knuckle of the middle 
finger, with your thumb, hard enough for him to feel it 
sensibly. If when this pressure is made, he feels a 
sensation resembling an electrical one, passing from 
the point pressed up the arm to the elbow, or to the 
shoulder, or to the brain, as the case may be, you will 
be able to control him in proportion to the extent of 
the sensation. While you are making this test with 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. IO9 

one, instruct the others to keep their eyes closed and 
to continue to follow the directions. Some may imag- 
ine they feel the electrical sensation. You can readily 
ascertain whether the atomic disturbance was real or 
imaginary, by some simple physical experiment. Tell 
the subject to close his eyes, take his hand and make 
pressure upon it with your thumb, and at the same in- 
stant that you make the pressure, say to him earnest- 
ly : "You cannot open your eyes." Repeat these 
words and the pressure at the same instant, as often 
as may be necessary to make the impression upon him. 
If he cannot open his eyes, remove the impression by 
discontinuing the pressure, and, at the same time, say- 
ing, ''All right !" when he will open them at once. If 
you succeed in keeping the eyes closed against the 
will, you will generally be able to give the other physi- 
cal experiments. You can keep the feet or the hands 
in motion, by the word and the pressure. Remove the 
impression each time as you did with the first experi- 
ment. To keep a subject seated in a chair against his 
will : Tell him to sit down, and to place both hands 
upon his knees, and to make pressure with the fingers 
just above the patella. At the same instant in which 
he makes this pressure, say to him earnestly, and as if 
you meant it : ''You cannot get up; get up if you 
can ! " Repeat these words, with his continuance of 
the pressure, until you feel assured either that you can, 
or cannot keep him in the chair against his will. If 
you can, remove the impression as you did before. 

As the character of the experiments depend entire- 
ly upon the electrical condition of the subject, and as 



no THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the mental phenomena can only be presented when 
the subject is in the positive electrical condition, or has 
a plus amount of nerve force, you must not expect to 
be able to give any but the physical experiments with 
a subject only partially electrified. If you succeed in 
keeping a subject seated in a chair, in spite of all the 
efforts he may make to get up, you may know that you 
can control all his physical activities. Remember that 
the thought force and the nerve force act co-opera- 
tively, and that all the physical experiments are per- 
formed by impressing the thought force by a word, 
and the nerve force by a pressure made on some part 
of the body at the same instant that the word is spo- 
ken. Remember, als^o, that the influence of the opera- 
tor is removed by saying, ''all right," and discontinu- 
ing the pressure. i\hvays speak and act earnestly, as 
if you meant all you said. If you can control the 
physical activities only, you may be able to give a 
great variety of interesting and convincing experi- 
ments, such as rnay suggest themselves to your mind. 
If a subject responds readily to the influence you ex- 
ercise over him, when giving the physical experiments, 
this will indicate that his nervous system may be more 
or less in the positive electrical condition which will 
enable you to control his mental activities also. You 
can readily ascertain if this is the case, by the success 
of the following experiment : Take a cane and hold it 
before the subject ; make'pressure upon his hand, and 
at the same instant say earnestly: ''See, here is a 
snake !" If you are able, by the word and pressure, to 
make the subject see the cane as a real live snake, you 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I I I 

will usually be able to control all his mental ac- 
tivities. 

In orcler to succeed as a practical experimenter, the 
psychologist must keep two objective points before 
the mind : First, that he must be able, without physi- 
cal contact, to keep his subjects seated in a chair 
against his will, before he can control his physical ac- 
tivities ; Second, that he must be able to make the 
subject see a cane as a snake, before he can control his 
mental activities. If you are so fortunate as to secure 
a subject who is naturally in the positive electrical con- 
dition, you could proceed immediately to influence his 
mental activities ; but it is generally better to influ- 
ence his physical activities first, in order to establish 
your control over him, and in order to establish your 
confidence in his condition. 

The variety of experiments that can be given, with 
a subject who is thoroughly electrified, will depend 
upon the mental development and culture of the sub- 
ject. As the experiments are always a reproduction 
oi mental impressions, the more intelligent the subject 
the more interesting the experiments will be. An 
orator, a scholar, a musician in every-day life, will be 
an orator, a scholar, or a musician, under the influence 
of the operator, who can reproduce in experiments the 
degree of culture that may exist, and thus give an en- 
tertainment that is unrivalled in interest. As the 
presentation of mental phenomena always excites the 
interest of investigation in those who see it, the suc- 
cessful operator in practical psychology will have no 
trouble in holding the attention of his audience, when 



112 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

once he has secured a good subject. An ahnost infi- 
nite variety of experiments can be given. The taste 
of pure water may be changed into wine, or vinegar. 
Pain may be inflicted on any part of the body. The 
subject may be made to laugh, sing, dance, or weep ; 
make speeches, or command armies. The scenes of 
home-Hfe may be reproduced. Give a subject a hat 
and tell him that it is a baby, and he will act with it as 
he would in every-day life. If he likes children he will 
caress it, or try to amuse it, in the most natural man- 
ner. You may make him drunk on cold water, and 
make him sober again in an instant. You can reproduce 
the impressions photographed on memory, and make 
him see and speak with absent friends, as naturally as 
if they were present.* 

The operator should always be careful to remove 
the impression made upon the mind of the subject by 
one experiment, before trying to produce another. If 
you should, by impressional influence, make a subject 
deaf, and then by another impression make him blind, 
and by still another make him lame, he would be 
deaf, blind and lame all at once, unless you counter- 
acted the influence after each impression, before mak- 
ing the other one. If you should, by impressional 
influence, ^make a subject see a tiger near him, and then 
make him see a lion, without removing the impression 
of the tiger, he would see both the lion and the tiger, 
ready to devour him, and it would frighten him just 
as much as if they were really before him. In order 
to remove such an impression, you might have to use 
great earnestness and force. In every-day life, the 



thp: scip:nce of self-control. 113 

effects of violent impressions upon the mind that pro- 
duce great excitement, are very often followed by 
injurious results. This is because of the discordant 
state of the nervous system ; but when the nervous 
system is in a positive vital condition, the impressions 
made by the experimenter can be followed by no such 
results, because of its positive reactive state. 

Any one who is familiar with the science, ^yill be 
able to give all the mental experiments by making 
the mental impressions only, after he has made the 
subject see a stick as a snake ; but it is better for one 
not used to experimenting to use both the word and 
the pressure, as long as he may find it necessary. 
Experience will be the best teacher in this as in many 
other things relating to this subject. Under the influ- 
ence of an experimenter in psychology, a man will 
always act in accordance with his nature and tempera- 
ment. Some will be more earnest and will manifest 
deeper feeling than others. If you see that a subject' 
is deeply affected by any mental impression you may 
make, it is best not to let the impression remain too 
long. If you give any experiment that you don't 
want the subject to remember, make the impression 
upon him that he has not done, or seen, the thing you 
want him to forget, and he will not remember it as a 
reality. 

As proof that psychological experiments are a re- 
production of the impressions made upon the thought 
force by circumstances, against the will, we give an 
illustration. If a man who is afraid of snakes, suddenly 
meets one in his pathway, the action of the heart will 



114 ^i^HE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

be increased in proportion as he is startled by the 
presence of the snake. If a psychologist makes the 
same man see a snake under the same circumstances, 
subjectively, the man will be startled to the same de- 
gree, and the action of the heart increased in a like 
proportion. His actions will correspond to the im- 
pression made upon him in the latter case, just as 
naturally as they did in the former. That the subject- 
ive impression is not imaginary, can be proven b}^ 
reversing the experiment already given. If the ope- 
rator, instead of making a cane appear as a snake to 
the subject, should present to him a living snake, he 
could just as readily make the snake appear as a cane, 
and the subject would handle it, if permitted to do so, 
as he would a cane. No effort of the imagination 
could produce such an impression upon a man, wide 
awake, and in the conscious possession of all his 
senses. Scientific experiment, stripped as it is of all 
humbuggery, trick, or collusion, must be accepted as 
proof of the existence of law. If an objective influ- 
ence impresses thought, no matter to what extent, 
and an experimenter can succeed in making a greater 
impression, the greater impression will control thought, 
every time it is made. Things are seen in the brain, 
not outside of it, and the mind cannot come from be- 
hind the changes that are wrought in its thouglit 
force, to see what is really producing them ; it only 
responds to the greatest influence exercised over this 
force. 

The physical system is also directly influenced by 
the impressions made upon it by the experimenter, 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. II5 

just as it is by the objective impressions of every-day 
life. If you tell a subject, who is in the positive electri- 
cal state, that he has dust in his eyes, and allow the 
impression to remain long enough, the eyes will be- 
come inflamed and painful to the same extent that 
they would if he really had dust in them. Such results 
furnish ample evidence of the reality of the experi- 
ments. Acute pain of any kind can be inflicted by 
the word, and the subject will suffer from it as sensibly 
as from any other pain, but this suffering will not occa- 
sion the nerve waste, and consequent debility, that 
follows a like degree of pain when the system is in a 
negative vital condition ; because this positive vital 
condition, which enables the psychologist to perform 
the experiment, causes the system to react, and re- 
cover from the effects of pain. If the operator did 
not remove the impression at all, the pain would pass 
off naturally in a short time, without any injurious 
results. 

As a great deal of superstition still exists in regard 
to everything that seems at all mysterious, there are 
many persons who will make unjust and unreasonable 
demand of an experimenter. Not understanding the 
science, they will expect him to present the phe- 
nomena, whether the conditions are favorable or not. 
He should, therefore, always endeavor, when demon- 
strating the science publicly, to explain the subject to 
his audience in words as plain and simple as he is able 
to use. This necessary explanation should be short, 
and to the point, so as not to consume the time that 
is better devoted to the practical illustration of the 



Il6 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

subject. The speaker should endeavor to make his 
audience see the necessity of their co-operation, by 
making them understand that he is dependent entirely 
upon them for his subjects. If he gets a good subject, 
he will be able to demonstrate and explain the 
science, by experiments, in a manner so convincing, 
as to create an interest which will lead many to inves- 
tigate, and study it for themselves. If he tries faith- 
fully, and does not get a subject with whom he can give 
convincing experiments, he should remember that 
scientific experiment is dependent upon conditions, 
and he will not feel discouraged. No psychologist, 
who has any respect for himself, or the science, will 
ever demonstrate it with a hired subject. Neither will 
he travel from place to place with such subjects, 
although he may know, beyond a doubt, that they are 
in the positive electrical condition ; and that he can, 
by having them with him, always give good experi- 
ments. Such experiments are, of course, real demon- 
stration of the science ; but they will rarely be 
accepted as such, and will have a tendency to increase 
existing skepticism. The experiments will appear to 
be tricks that are made possible by collusion, and the 
operator will be regarded as a charlatan. 

A psychologist who explains and demonstrates this 
subject publicly, may occasionally meet with a man or 
boy, who, thinking the operator a humbug, will en- 
deavor to humbug him, by "playing off" as a subject. 
If you have any suspicion of any one who presents 
himself as a subject, after experimenting with him a 
short time, close his eyes by the word and pressure ; 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. II7 

tlien, while you continue the pressure and the word, 
lift one of the eye lids with your thumb and finger. If 
only the white of the eye presents itself, the subject is 
an honest one ; but, if the eye is looking at you from 
the pupil, he is acting. An operator who has not had 
much experience in experimenting, may be deceived, 
if a sham subject is a good actor, until he has given all 
the physical experiments with him. If your suspicion 
is not aroused until you are giving the mental experi- 
ments, test the subject by making him taste reel pep- 
per. When you offer him the pepper, say to him : 
*'Eat this sugar !" If he eats it as sugar and it does 
not burn his mouth, or excite the salivary glands, he 
is an honest subject, thoroughly electrified. If he re- 
fuses to take the pepper, or if he tastes it and it ex- 
cites the salivary glands as pepper would, he is acting. 
We think we have gone over all the ground neces- 
sary to make this chapter interesting and instructive 
to students of practical psychology ; this has been our 
object in writing it. But, as we have- already said, 
practical experience must teach the student many 
things, which he can learn in no other way ; and the 
more practice he has the more interesting the subject 
will become to him. No two men act alike when sub- 
jected to the same circumstantial influence. Each 
man acts according to his nature or individuality ; so 
each will act differently under the influence of the ex- 
perimenter. This will always give novelty to the ex- 
periments, and the psychologist can never grow weary 
of repeating them. The study of practical psychology 
is like the study of human nature ; the same old hu- 
man nature that is always new. 



CHAPTER X< 



MESMERISM AND CLAIRVOVANCE. 

M>^)ESMERISM, so called from Mesmer, the man 
^'t^M^' ^^'ho brought it prominently forward, and dem- 
onstrated it with experiments that challenged the belief 
of those who saw them, still holds its place as a subject 
of deep interest to those fond of unraveling mysteries. 
Its wonderful phenomena has been closely investigated 
by scientists, many of whom have become deeply in- 
terested in it, and firm believers in its truth. As the 
many great minds that have, from time to time, in- 
vestigated it, have arrived at such different conclusions 
in regard to the cause or causes that produce the 
mesmeric state, we naturally conclude that a rational 
solution of the mysterj' surrounding this statue and its 
phenomena, has not been given. Mesmer flattered 
himself that he brought about the state that enabled 
him to give the experiments, by passing a fluid or prin- 
ciple of life from himself into his subjects, through the 
influence of his will. Hence, it was no unusual thing 
when a mesmerist passed others on the street, to hear 
the remark: '* Get out of the way and let the fluid 
pass ! " This theory of the mesmeric state caused 
some to believe that they could charge a stick, or other 
object, with their own magnetic fluid, and that they 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I TQ 

could, with this stick, produce the magnetic state in 
others. This is one of the many theories that have 
been presented by mesmerists as a solution of the mys- 
tery which they themselves did not understand. The 
mystery still remains, and the question : "What is 
the mesmeric state as produced by a mesmerist ^ " 
, awaits a satisfactory answer. 

We propose to present a practical solution of the 
mystery, by answering the question as briefly as pos- 
sible. The mesmeric state is an abnormal condition 
of the mind and body, in some subjects approximating 
the somnambulic, in others the cataleptic, and in 
others the trance state. These unnatural conditions 
of the mind and body have often been induced by un- 
due excitement, or by disease. If they had not been 
so induced, it would be impossible for the mesmerist 
to reproduce them in others. Mesmeric influence can, 
therefore, bring about an abnormal state of the mind 
and body, like unto that produced by excitement or 
disease. The mesmeric state is, in this respect, just 
the reverse of the psychological state. In the one, an 
abnormal condition of the mind and body ; in the 
other, a normal condition of the mind and body is 
necessary to the presentation of their respective phe- 
nomena. The phenomena presented by the mesmeric 
state seems, to those who see it, to partake of the su- 
pernatural ; while the phenomena presented by the 
psychological state is as natural as nature itself To 
confound these two states of mind and body, would 
be as irrational as to argue that disease and health are 
one and the same thing. 



I20 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

There are various methods of inducing the mesmeric 
state. The one in use for a long period was this : The 
operator would sit in front of the subject, take hold of 
his hands and press both thumbs of the subject with 
his thumbs. While looking the subject steadily in the 
eyes, he would tell the subject to look steadily at him, 
and make no effort to resist any influence he might 
feel. They sat and gazed at each other thus, until the 
operator found that he could not influence the subject, 
or until the subject gradually passed into a sleep. As 
soon as the subject slept, the mesmerist would place 
his hands upon the head of the subject and make passes 
downward, in quick succession, until the subject lost 
the sense of feeling. Then the operator, by holding 
the hands of the subject for a few minutes, would es- 
tablish a sj-mpathetic relation between himself and the 
subject ; so that he could, at will, make him see, feel 
and hear what he himself might see, feel or hear. This 
is the mesmeric state in which subjects manifest the 
phenomena of sympathetic clairvoyance. Often when 
such subjects have been placed en rapport with stran- 
gers, the subject would tell them, to their astonish- 
ment, not only what they were thinking about then, 
but could also tell them many circumstances in their 
past lives, of which they were not thinking at the time. 

When the mesmeric state is induced by this method 
the influence used is two-fold. First, the special influx 
of nerve force into the subject from the operator ; sec- 
ond, the general influx of electricity from the atmos- 
phere, caused by the concentration of thought on the 
part of the subject. If the body of the operator should 



thp: science of self-control. 121 

be in a state of discord, or lacking in nerve force, and 
the body of the subject in the same negative condition, 
the effect produced, if any, would be referable to the 
influx of atmospheric electricity. If, however, the 
operator should be more or less in a positive vital con- 
dition, or in a condition approximating a full momen- 
tum of nerve force, and the subject should be Tacking 
in nerve force, the effect produced would be referable 
both to the influx of nerve force from the operator, 
and to the influx of the electricity of the atmosphere. 
This being the case, persons whose bodies are in the 
positive vital condition make the most successful op- 
erators in mesmerism. 

There are many methods of producing the m.esmeric 
state. Some experimenters use small coin for the sub- 
ject to look at. Others place objects in such a position 
that the eyes of the subject are put upon a strain by 
looking upward, and backward, until hypnotism is pro- 
duced ; after w^hich the operator manipulates some- 
what after the manner of the first method, until he is 
en rapport with his subject. Whatever method is pur- 
sued, if it makes the brain the point of positive action, 
an extra afnount of nerve force and blood are thereby 
concentrated at the brain, and this produces the ab- 
normal condition in which mesmeric phenomena is 
presented. The passes that are made by the mesmer- 
ist, in order to fully establish the mesmeric state, and 
to put himself en rapport with his subject, have their 
precedence in the operation of electrical law. Passing 
the electro-magnet downward upon a horseshoe mag- 
net, from its center, magnetizes its circumference, or 



122 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

positive and negative poles. The passes made down- 
ward from the brain, by the mesmerist, demagnetizes 
the brain, more or less, and magnetizes the body. 
This equalizes the vital state between the brain and 
the body, and brings about an abnormal condition of 
both mind and body. 

Subjects in the mesmeric state arQ controlled, most 
generally, by the will of the operator, and not by ver- 
bal impressions. There are, however, some mesmeric 
subjects, who cannot be influenced by the will of the 
operator, although the}^ do not recognize the presence 
or influence of any other person. In these cases the 
operator performiS his experiments upon them by mak- 
ing verbal impressions. This condition appears to ap- 
proximate the somnait\bulic state. If an operator tells 
a subject, in this state, that some other person can 
control him, the person can do so. The supremacy of 
the influence of the operator in these abnormal condi- 
tions, is one of the marked characteristics of mesmer- 
ism. Subjects do not seem to recognize anything else 
except the operator and his influence. His thoughts 
appear to be their thoughts. If you speak to them 
they will not hear you, if you pinch them tliey will not 
feel it ; but in some cases if the mesmerist is pinched 
the sensation produced by the pinch is instantly re- 
produced in the subject. Some subjects, after being 
restored to consciousness, will say that they do not re- 
member any of the experiments performed upon them. 
Others will say that the things they have done, or seen, 
or felt under the influence of the mesmerist, seem to 
them like a dream. The former class of subjects ap- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 23 

proximate the cataleptic state ; the latter the trance 
state. 

The mesmerist cannot produce these abnormal con- 
ditions of mind and body as perfectly as they are often 
produced by excitement and disease. But he can 
bring about a condition approximating them, that will 
enable him to demonstrate with a subject therem.arka- 
ble spontaneous phenomena of the cataleptic, som- 
nambulic and trance states. This is all that mesmeric 
experiments can demonstrate, and the phenomena 
manifested in these spontaneous states is often more 
wonderful than any that can be presented by the mes- 
merist. 

That one person, in any condition, should think and 
feel what another thinks and feels, losing his identity, 
as it were, in that of another, seems inexplicable. The 
reoson why the thoughts and feelings of a mesmerist 
are instantly reproduced in his subject, can be ex- 
plained by a close scrutiny of the operation of electric- 
al law. There are finer and more rarefied means of 
converse between man and man than the atmosphere. 
One of them is the electric spirit of the universe. The 
adaptability of the nervous system to this electric 
spirit of the universe is such, that man cannot think 
without producing electrical thought waves, that pass 
from him, any more than he can speak without produ- 
cing atmospheric word waves, that pass from him. The 
mind cannot recognize the former medium of converse, 
as it does the latter, as long as the brain, in a vital 
sense, is positive or plus in its relation to the body. 
The positive condition of the nerve force of the brain, 



124 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

causes it to resist the influence of the thought waves, 
which are also positive, and prevents one mind from 
holding intelligible converse with another, through this 
medium. 

The law that governs this more rarefied means of 
communication between mian and man, makes two 
things, in a like positive state of vital action, repel the 
influence of each other. The normal vital condition 
of the brain, in its relation to the hody, is plus or 
more. The construction of the brain indicates that it 
is a perfect reservoir for the condensation and reten- 
tion of the electric or nerve spirit. This vital force is 
stored up in it during sleep or repose, to be used by 
the mind and body during waking hours. Therefore the 
brain contains a plus amount of the vital principle of 
life, as compared with the body. This makes the brain 
positive, and the bod}" negative. The relative vital 
condition of the brain and body is different in different 
persons. Therefore, it is much easier to induce the 
mesmeric state in some than in others. Any method 
which is used to induce this state, that will tend to 
equalize the vital principle between the brain and 
body, and place the brain in a state of negative ac- 
tion, will also place the brain in a state of non-resist- 
ance to the electrical thought waves that are continu- 
ally flowing from one person to another. In propor- 
tion as this condition can be induced in a subject, will 
the operator be able to manifest, through the subject, 
the phenomena of synipathetic clairvoyance. 

The most remarkable of all the phenomena mani- 
fested through abnormal conditions of the brain and 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 25 

body, is that known as independent clairvoyance. The 
negative vital condition consequent upon excitement, 
or disease, has brought about, in some persons the 
cataleptic, and in others the trance state ; and, while in 
this condition, they have manifested spontaneously the 
l)ower to see persons and things miles away. They 
have be^n able to say just where the persons were, and 
what they were doing and saying, at the time they saw 
them. It has been afterwards proven, conclusiv^ely, 
that the person affected with trance, or catalepsy, did 
thus see and hear just what was transpiring at the 
time, although the distance was so great that it was 
impossible for them to see or hear through the medium 
of the atmosphere. We cannot deny facts, and if they 
are mysterious facts, it is natural for us to look for a 
rational explanation of the mystery surrounding them. 
We know that the somnambulist can, in the darkness 
of the darkest night, with his eyes closed, climb dizzy 
heights or traverse the brink of dangerous precipices, 
with perfect safety, as long as he is undisturbed, and 
the condition that enables him to do so is not inter- 
fered with. He will unhesitatingly brave dangers from 
wdiich he would shrink when in a waking, conscious 
state. This powder which he exhibits, to encounter 
danger unshrinkingly, and to cope with it unhesita- 
tingly and successfully, is evidence that there is a me- 
dium adapted to the sight of the mind, which enables 
the mind to sec things that are beyond the reach of 
the sense of sight. This medium is the electricity of 
the atmosphere ; which is hundreds of times finer and 
more rarefied than the atmosphere itself, the medium 



126 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROE. 

through which the eyes see. All that is necessary to 
enable the mind to see through the electrical medium, 
is that the brain shall be in a state of negative vital 
action. The eyes of the brain are the windows through 
which the mind looks ; the lids are the shutters. When 
the lids are closed, they shut out from the mind the 
sight of external objects ; but not any more than the 
plus- amount of nerve force at the brain shuts out from 
the mind the objects or things which it can see only 
through the electrical medium. 

If, when a person lies down at night, and there are 
subjective causes of any nature, that affects his nervous 
system in such a way as to bring about the vital, nega- 
tive condition of the brain which would enable the 
mind to see through the electric medium, he would see 
as naturally as he would, wiien awake, through the me- 
dium of the atmosphere. The finer medium adapted to 
the sight of the mind, enables the somnambulist to see 
more clearly, and to act with far greater precision than 
he could when guided by the sense of sight. The con- 
dition underlying this insight, or sight of the mind, is 
what makes the phenomena of ind,ependent clairvoy- 
ance possible. The condition of the brain which en- 
ables the mind to see through the electric medium, 
will, when it is intensified, enable persons in the trance, 
or cataleptic state, to see and know what is transpir- 
ing at a greater distance. In independent clairvoy- 
ance the mind of the subject is not guided by or 
through those around him, but has the power, like the 
mind of the somnambulist, to see and know^ things in- 
dependent of any influence from those present. 



THE ^^CIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 127 

It sometimes happens that a subject who manifests 
sympathetic clairvoyance, in the mesmeric state, will 
also manifest independent clairvoyance. The condi- 
tion induced by the mesmeric methods, is not as per- 
fect as the spontaneous trance or cataleptic states, and, 
therefore, the phenomena of independent clairvoyance, 
as manifested by a mesmeric subject, is not as perfect 
as that manifested by a person in the spontaneous 
condition. The same spontaneous condition that en- 
ables the somnambulist to go from place to place, in 
the darkness of the night, over perilous roads with 
perfect safety, has enabled others, when unconscious 
thought has taken a different direction, to paint pic- 
tures, write poems, make speeches, etc.; manifesting 
in wTiatever they did, more mental vigor than when 
awake and conscious. 

The phenomena manifested by these abnormal con- 
ditions of mind and body are so seemingly mysterious 
that it has tended to foster superstition. There are 
hundreds of persons who cpnsidt clairvoyants as to 
the whereabouts of hidden treasure or stolen property. 
Sometimes the clairvoyant is able to point out the 
treasure, or to find the property. One wTio does this 
is always, more or less, in the sympathetic condition, 
and receives impressions of the facts from the mind 
of some one who knows where the treasure or property 
may be hidden. There are many ways in which a 
clairvoyant may receive these impressions. He may 
be put upon the track of inquiry by the thoughts of 
some one present, or he may receive impressions from 
some one at a distance. Mind can communicate with 



128 THE sc[e>Jcp: of self-control. 

mind, when the conditions are right, irrespective of 
distance, as can be proven by a great deal of indispu- 
table evidence. There are but few persons who are in 
the condition to manifest independent clairvoyance, 
aud most of these are more or less s)'mpathetic. There 
are, however, a large number of persons who profess, 
or pretend to be clairvoyant. 

A few instances have occurred where persons in a 
natural, conscious state, have discovered that they 
possessed the power to divine the tlioughts of others. 
They have exhibited their power partly as a matter of 
business, and partly to astonish the public. Such per- 
sons are- necessarily in a state of accord and health, or 
more or less in the normal vital condition. Being in 
this condition they can, by a mental effort, induce, 
temporarily, that negative condition of the brain which 
enables it to receive the electrical thought waves from 
the minds of others, when in direct communication 
with them. With this normal vital condition, the 
brain would naturally react and become positive. Such 
persons, therefore, are obliged to continue the mental 
effort; in order to keep the brain in the negative con- 
dition long enough to enable them to present the phe- 
nomena which is known as mind reading. The con- 
dition of the brain that underlies these phenomena, can 
be induced, at will, by any person who finds himself to 
be in a state of accord, after he has acquired positive 
self-control. The cultivation of the will power in- 
creases the susceptibility of the mind, and enables it 
to receive and reproduce the thoughts of others very 
readily, when the necessary conditions exist ; and the 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I29 

phenomena are much more interesting and convincing 
when presented by one who can not only reproduce 
readily the thoughts of others, but has the power, also, 
to maintain, at will, the negative condition of the brain 
without apparent effort. 

General Rusk, United States Senator from Texas 
years ago, said that this theory of mind reading ex- 
plained to him what had heretofore been a mystery. 
In some tribes of Indians there wxre squaws who could 
divine the thoughts of the chiefs, or others of the tribe ; 
and could tell them of things that had occurred in 
their past lives, which were known only to themselves. 
The possession of this mysterious power by a squaw, 
caused the tribe to believe that she was in direct com- 
munication with The Great Spirit, and they paid her 
reverence accordingly. Not understanding the limits • 
of this power, they consulted her in regard to matters 
of war, and all other things of importance in the gov- 
ernment of the tribe. The mystery in which this phe- 
nomena was involved, was a fruitful means of fostering 
superstition among the Indians. 

A similar superstition has brought forward and main- 
tained a class of persons known as fortune tellers, who, 
having the power to divine thought, intentionally cre- 
ate the impression that they have, also, the power to 
foretell future events. If they can relate some incident 
in the past life of the person who visits them, they can 
readily make the person believe that they can foresee, 
and foretell their future. 

The ability to foretell future events is not embraced 
in the power of the clairvoyant, nor in that of the mind 



130 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROE. 

reader. This power belongs to the faculty of the mind 
known as prescience. This faculty can only be utilized 
by man when he is in the highest state of accord and 
health ; when he has the positive power to direct 
thought to the higher faculties of the mind ; when his 
spirit force is in harmony with the omnipresent Spirit 
of God, and when he has the will power to maintain 
that harmony. 

In all the phenomena, as manifested by the clair- 
voyant, the mind reader, the somnambulist, or the 
mesmerist with his subject, we have seen that a nega- 
tive vital condition of the brain was necessary to the 
manifestations. The temporary reversion of the forces 
of the body that accompanies this abnormal condition, 
as in the case of the!* mind reader, is not injurious to 
health, because the mind acts consciously, and the 
healthy state of the body causes the brain to react and 
resume its positive vital condition naturally. The 
mesmeric state should not be induced in persons who 
are healthy, because the reversion or abnormal condi- 
tion of the forces of the body thus brought about, dis- 
turbs the harmonious relation of these forces, and 
causes a . deteriorated condition of the nervous sys- 
tem. In diseased persons a discordant condition al- 
ready exists. By placing them in another discordant 
condition, which renders them perfectly passive, they 
are in a complete state of non-resistance to the resto- 
rative influence of the electricity of the atmosphere. 
It sometimes happens, therefore, that by inducing the 
mesmeric state, and allowing a patient to remain in it 
for hours at a time, a disease that could be reached in 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I31 

no other way, may be cured. The mesmeric condi- 
tion, whether induced as a curative agent, or for the 
purpose of experimenting, can be counteracted by re- 
versing the passes until the subject returns to con- 
sciousness. If this does not entirely remove the influ- 
ence, make a verbal impression upon him, by saying 
to him : " Wide awake, you know where you are ! " 
and at the same time slapping him on some part of the 
body. This will generally restore him to a conscious- 
ness of his surroundings. If you cannot restore him 
to consciousness by this method, let him alone, and he 
will gradually be relieved of the condition, and will 
return to consciousness naturally. 

There is another abnormal condition of the mind and 
body, w^hich circumstances have occasionally produced, 
which is entirely different from the mesmeric, catalep- 
tic, somnambulic, or trance states. This is a peculiar 
condition, which may be called the cumulative mag- 
netic state ; a state in which the electricity of the 
atmosphere is accumulated by the nervous system so 
rapidly, that it cannot be converted into nerve fluid or 
force, but is condensed in both brain and body, as elec- 
tricity, to such a degree as to produce unconsciousness. 
The body then becomes the central source of raps or 
sounds which are produced in the room, in the walls, 
or in the furniture. This phenomena, unusual, and ap- 
parently mysterious as it is, has been regarded as su- 
pernatural. Some have referred it to the influence of 
the devil ; others have thought the noises were made 
by departed spirits. If we examine the cause ration- 
ally, we shall find that the effect is far removed from 



132 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the supernatural, and that his Satanic majesty had no 
influence in producing- it. When a person is in this 
condition, if the magnetic needle is placed near him, 
it will be attracted toward him, as it would be toward 
an electro-magnet when placed near it. Electricity 
has a greater affinity for water than for atmosphere. 
If a person thus affected is immersed in tepid w^ater, 
the noises in the room will cease ; because the electricity 
is discharged in the water, and not attracted to sur- 
rounding negative objects. If a case should ever occur 
in w^hich the body of the person thus affected would 
not attract the magnetic needle, or in which immers- 
ing the body in water would not stop the raps or noises, 
then w^e would have phenomena that would defy ex- 
planation, either by the law of equilibrium, or by the 
law of attraction and repulsion. 



CHAPTER XL 



MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS, AND OTHER MYSTERIES. 




Maternal Impressions. 

^HERE are but few subjects more interesting or 
more important than the influence of maternal 
impressions on fetal life. There is, however, compar- 
atively little effort made by those who partially under- 
stand this subject, to impress upon mothers the unde- 
niable fact that they are personally more or less respon- 
sible for the future of their children, and are, therefore, 
more or less responsible for the future of humanity. 
That the power which they have to influence the men- 
tal and, conditionally, also the physical development 
of their children, in utero, is a power greater and more 
significant of good or evil, than that of any monarch of 
the earth. 

All mothers make more or less impression on the 
fetal life of their offspring ; but all of us have seen or 
known of some cases in which the maternal impres- 
sion was rriade in so marked a manner as to excite 
special interest. A few years ago TJie London Lancet, 
which is good authority, published the account of a 
case which illustrates, in a pointed manner, the influ- 
ence of mental impressions on fetal life. It says : Be- 
fore Eli H. was born, his father made a vow to his 



134 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

mother that if she brought him another daughter, he 
would never speak to her again. The child was a boy 
and the father was well pleased at the birth of a son. 
But this son could never be persuaded to speak to his 
father, nor to any one except his mother and sisters, 
until the father died. After the death of his father, 
the son, who was then thirty-five years old, became as 
loquacious as any one. In this connection, another 
case may be referred to as proof of the influence of 
maternal impressions on fetal life : A young lady was 
for two years engaged to a young man who was deaf 
and dumb. At the end of that time she ignored his 
claims and told him that she could never marry him. 
His grief and sorrow ;vas such as to make a deep im- 
pression upon her mind. She subsequently married 
another man, who could both speak and hear ; but, 
strange as it may seem, her first two children were 
born both deaf and dumb. These and kindred cases 
leave no doubt as to the positive influence .of maternal 
impression on fetal life. 

From time to time, monstrosities in human shape 
are born into the world; helpless ' creatures, so im- 
perfect, and hopelessly deformed, that it seems to 
those who see them almost a pity that they should 
draw the breath of life. Some are deformed in body 
or in feature ; while others, more fortunate, only carry 
the visible impress of the maternal impression, in a 
mother's mark, either on the face or some part of the 
body. There can scarcely be a difference of opinion 
as to the theory that these deformities are the result of 
maternal impressions. Further than this, no adequate 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 35 

cause has been assigned to them. They are spoken of 
as misfortunes, or providential afflictions, or coinci- 
dents, in such a way as to leave the impression that 
they are among the things that must be accepted as 
beyond human help. 

The maternal impressions, that are so intense as to 
produce physical deformity, are the exception instead 
of the rule in reproduction. This being the case, there 
must be a special condition of the minds and bodies of 
mothers who unconsciously and unintentionally im- 
press their offspring in this lamentable manner. This 
condition must be different from that of the large majori- 
ty of mothers, who impress their children only mentally. 
We must go back of the impressions, and ascertain the 
physical and mental conditions that underlie them, be- 
fore we can find out why it is that only a few mothers 
deform their children. 

We cannot discover any difference in mothers by look- 
ing at them, by feeling the pulse, by looking at the 
tongue, or by ascertaining their temperament. The usu- 
al method of diagnosis will not assist us in finding any 
existing peculiarity of body or of mind, that distinguish- 
es the mothers who deform or mark their children, from 
other mothers. Again we must use the key that un- 
locks the psychic realm, and search therein for a solu- 
tion of the mystery. This key, as we have said, is the 
sense of feeling, by which we are able to ascertain the 
different reactive conditions of the nervous system. If 
you take a^^person's hand and make pressure upon it 
with the thumb, you disturb the circulation of the 
nerve force, or spirit, from the point pressed, through 



136 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the whole body. If there is no conscious recognition 
of this disturbance, no feeHng resembHng an electric 
sensation, from the point pressed to the brain, there is 
a lack of nerve force, and the nervous system is in a 
negative vital condition. This is the condition of the 
large majority of mothers. When* nothing but the 
feeling of the pressure is recognized, mothers who are 
encemte may be frightened ; the sight of unpleas- 
ant objects, or the impression of unpleasant circum- 
stances, may consciously disturb the mind, and be ac- 
companied by anxiety as to the influence the impression 
may make upon the child. They may have an inordi- 
nate desire for some article of food -w^hich they cannot 
get. These strong impressions, or intense desires, 
generally leave their impress on the mental develop- 
ment, or influence the subsequent likes and dislikes of 
the child for certain articles of food, or other things ; 
but w^hen a mother is in this negative vital condition, 
there is never any material or physical impression 
made upon fetal life. In other words, where there is 
a lack of nerve force, which is the vital en.ibling force 
of the body that co-operates with the thought force, 
the mother has not the power to influence the physical 
development of her child by mental impressions, al- 
though such impressions do, more or less, influence the 
mental development. 

The physical activities correspond to, and obey the 
mental, when directed by the nerve or enabling force. 
The activities of thought plan a house ; the physical 
activities, directed b}" thought, and aided by material 
means, give visible form to the plan. The nerve and 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 37 

tlie thought force act co-operatively, and it is this co- 
operation which causes mothers, conditionally, to in- 
fluence the physical development of their children, in 
utero, by the impressions made upon the mind. If a 
lady who is enceinte feels, upon pressure, a disturb- 
ance of the nerve fluid from the point pressed to the 
brain, or even to the shoulder, or the elbow, she is 
either in the positive vital condition, or approximating 
that condition, and is likely to impress, in a physical 
sense, the fetal life of her child. The liability to mark 
or deform children exists in exact proportion to the 
extent of the feeling of the atomic disturbance of the 
nerve fluid, when pressure is made. In comparing one 
with another, we have always found that the efiect has . 
been in proportion to the cause. We have met a 
few mothers who marked their children indistinctly, 
who felt nothing but the feeling of the pressure ; but 
with these there was a soft flexible feeling of the skin, 
which indicated more than ordinary health. With 
others, if the atomic disturbance w^as felt only to the 
elbow, the mother's mark would be visible, but not 
prominent ; if felt to the shoulder, more prominent ; if 
felt to the brain, ver\^ prominent. We have never ex- 
amined one w^ho gave birth to a monstrosity, but the 
indications are that such mothers were in a state of 
high accord and health. 

Without the power of self-control, even though good 
health may be maintained, the state of the nervous 
system undergoes changes, and mothers who mark 
their children, may mark some more distinctly than 
others. One lady whom we examined had given birth 



138 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

to seven children, and had marked them all more or 
less distinctly. The last child was born with only half 
of the right ear. The mother knew that this deform- 
ity was the result of an impression made upon her 
mind when she accidentally saw one man cut off the 
ear of another in a street fight. We could tell her 
why this impression had resulted in deformity, and we 
proved to her that her nervous system was in a posi- 
tive vital condition by keeping her eyes closed against 
her will. But at that time we did not understand the 
full significance of this state, and could not tell her 
how to utilize it, or how to counteract these unavoid- 
able circumstantial impressions, by the positive use of 
the will. . 

We do not think we can be mistaken as to the cause 
of the deformities resulting from maternal impressions. 
During a long experience, both as a physician and a 
psychologist, we have given particular attention to the 
investigation of this subject, and we have never found 
a mother who marked her children, who was not, more 
or less, in the positive vital condition. This being the 
case, it may be argued that the negative vital condi- 
tion, as to its effect on reproduction, is a blessing to 
mothers, and to humanity. It might as well be argued 
that a discordant state of the nervous system, in which 
mothers are liable to transmit disease of body and un- 
rest of mind to their children, would be a blessing. If 
the unfortunate mothers who have given birth to de- 
formed children, had understood their condition, and 
known how to utilize it, they might have given birth 
to children whose perfection would have been as re- 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 1 39 

markable as the imperfection of the others. The posi- 
tive vital condition is not only one of health, but is 
also one that implies the power to control and direct 
thought at will, to prevent and remove the influence 
of circumstantial impressions upon the mind, and to 
impress fetal life with both physical and mental 
strength and beauty. 

Some mothers understand that they may develop 
their children, in utero, in some chosen direction, by the 
influence of their own mental impressions. For this 
purpose they devote themselves, during the period of 
gestation, to the study of art, or literature, or mechanics, 
or whatever they may desire the child to care most for, 
and they are often rewarded by the special develop- 
ment of a corresponding talent in the child. The al- 
most universal influence of maternal impressions on 
mental development, in utero, is proof of the fetal ex- 
istence of the soul, and its gradual development with 
the body as a spiritual entity. As we investigate this 
subject, the responsibility of mothers becomes more 
strongly impressed upon us. We wish we could make 
all mothers realize this responsibility for themselves. 

Mothers, who are in a negative vital condition have 
the power, as we have already seen, to impressionally 
develop the mental faculties of their children, in utero. 
Such mothers would greatly enlarge this power, by 
following the directions already given for placing the 
nervous system in a state of accord. Even if the ex- 
isting state of discord was so great that they might 
not be able, by this method, to place themselves in that 
high state of accord which is necessary to the direc- 



140 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTkOL. 

tion of thought, at will, they would greatly improve 
their vital condition ; and every conscious effort made 
in this direction would give them more and more 
moral force and power, and place them in a condition 
to make good impressions on fetal life. Mothers who 
may find themselves to be already in the positive vital 
condition, which implies the power to direct thought at 
will, can, by acquiring positive self-control, by the 
method given, so enlarge the capabilities of mother- 
hood that they would justly feel proud of their children, 
and of the good they might do through their children. 

Some one, has said : "If men make the laws, women 
make the men." Woman's power lies in her influence 
upon her offspring, both before and after birth ; and, al- 
though her power is but partially recognized, even by 
the most civilized nations of the earth, she always has 
and always will continue to wield it. When she her- 
self shall understand the full significance of this power, 
and shall become more and more careful as to the na- 
ture of the impressions that she makes upon the plastic 
souls that are committed to her influence, she will be 
able to impress fetal life with more and more health, 
beauty and power ; and through her own love and wis- 
dom, new sources of joy will be opened up to her. 

The state of accord and health in which some are 
found to be, naturally, and which can be acquired, 
more or less, by others, is hopefully indicative of a 
time to come when mothers will possess the will 
power to free themselves, at pleasure, from the pains 
and difficulties now consequent upon reproduction. 



THE SCIKNCK OF SELF-CONTROL. I4I 

The Mind Cure. 

One of the mysteries that is interesting a great many 
people at the present time, is the curing of disease by 
a method known as T/w Mind Cure. There is no 
question as to the fact that invalids are sometimes re- 
stored to health by this means. As the method used 
is so simple, and the conditions that underlie the cures 
not well understood, the man who practices it, seems, 
to the sufferers who seek his help, to be invested with 
a sort of supernatural power. 

Hopeful impressions upon the mind quicken the ac- 
tivities of the nervous system. Any impression that 
can be made upon the mind, which will direct the ac- 
tivities of thought in the way of faith and hope, and 
will cause the nervous system to take in a plus amount 
of electric life from the electricit}' of the atmosphere, 
and convert it into nerve force, will have either an in- 
stantaneous, or gradual effect in curing disease. The 
effect will depend upon the vital condition of the pa- 
tient, and the degree to which the vitality can be in- 
creased. Most of those w^ho practice this method of 
cure do not unclerstand wdiy or how the cure is effected, 
any further than to recognize the influence of mental 
impressions as a curative agent. Why the mental im- 
pressions are followed by such wonderful results, is a 
mystery which they have little interest in solving, since 
it is the mystery that makes the business profitable. 
Disease is cured just as readily in this way, without the 
doctor as with him, if the patient has sufficient faith in 
the remedy, or if the impression made upon thought 



142 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

is strong enough to counteract the pain, and act power- 
fully upon the nervous system. Keeping a buckeye in 
the pocket has been known to cure hemorrhoids. Shut- 
ting a h*ve spider up in a thimble, and wearing it tied 
about the neck, has cured chills and fever. At one 
time this was quite a favorite remedy among the ne- 
groes of the South, and, as they are a race given to a 
belief in the mysterious, it was very efficacious. The 
belief was, that as the spider died, the disease would 
gradually die or disappear, and it usually did. Hun- 
dreds of cases of real disease have been cured by im- 
pressions, or counter impressions. Placing the hand 
of a corpse on a malignant tumor has been the means 
of causing it to disappear. The sight of a dentist's 
instrument has often stopped the throbbing pain in a 
diseased tooth. The most acute pain may be cured by 
a counter impression, if it is only strong enough to in- 
duce a co-operation of the thought force and nerve 
force, so that the thought force may act through the 
nerve force, in directing the mind away from the pain. 
Some who practice the mind cure method, profess to 
be able to cure patients at a distance. They write and 
tell them to go regularly, at a certain hour every day, 
into a room where they will not be disturbed ; to be 
passive, and let nothing occupy their mind but the de- 
sire to be cured. They promise the patient to co- 
operate w4th him every day, and that this combined 
effort will effect a cure. Strange as it may seem, the 
cure is sometimes effected. In such cases the pre- 
tended co-operation of the mind cure doctor, has noth- 
ing whatever to do with the effect produced, any 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I43 

further than that he inspires the patient with faith 
enough to make him follow the directions regularly. 
The directions given are good, in so far as they induce 
a passive state of mind, and thus promote an influx of 
nerve life, and an increase of vital power, that places 
the nervous system, more or less, in a state of accord, 
and enables it to throw off the disease. If such pa- 
tients would go regularly every day to some quiet 
place, and for the same length of time, utilize the co- 
operative method of acquiring self-control by the 
concentration of thought, with the same earnestness 
and confidence with which they follow the directions 
of the mind cure doctor, many more cures would be 
effected. This method would also enable the patient 
to understand himself, and the laws that govern his 
being, and a knowledge of how and why the cure was 
made, would destroy the mystery and superstition that 
accompanies it. 

The Faith Cure. 

This is another method by which the same result is 
brought about. Those who have practiced the faith 
cure have had a larger following than those who have 
practiced the mind cure, for the reason that the faith 
cure method appeals to the spiritual nature of man, 
and inspires in him a faith that help will come, through 
prayer, from the Direct Source of all help. And, in a 
sense, it does so come, if it comes at all ; and yet it 
comes through the direct co-operation of natural and 
spiritual law. As we have said before, earnest faith 
and honest prayer direct the activities of thought to 



144 ^i'HE SCTENX.E OF SELF-CONTROL. 

the higher faculties of the mind. By this means, the 
sympathetic activities of the thought or spirit force 
are transferred from the body to the mind, in such a 
way as to promote an inspirational influx of the omni- 
present psychic spirit into the soul. This influx im- 
parts additional activity to the nervous system, and 
promotes, in a positive manner, the influx of the electric 
spirit of the atmosphere into the bod}^ This influx of 
the primal spirit forces, into both soul and body, im- 
parts new life and vigor, and results in the remarkable 
cures which may be performed by this method. No 
matter what the means used, the result will always be 
the same, if the means will but establish a harmonious 
relationship between the nervous system and its out- 
side source of nourishipent, long enough for the system 
to take in a sufficient amount of lacking vitality. 

Opiates and sedatives are, for this reason, an essen- 
tial help in curing disease, by tho administration of 
medicine, if they are used for this object, and not 
used to excess. They quiet the disturbed state of the 
mind that is caused by pain, and, in this way, bring 
about that condition of the body which enables it to 
expel the morbid and molecular causes of disease. By 
quieting excitement, they place the skin and nervous 
system in a condition to receive an influx of nerve life 
from without. Any medicine that will quiet excite- 
ment, stimulate the absorbents and exhalents, and re- 
lieve congestion, will promote reaction in the nervo 
vital respiratory system, and cure disease. The law 
that links man to the- electrical department of nature, 
must be regarded in the treatment of disease ; and any 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I45 

method which does not directly, or indirectly, include 
the means by which to bring this law into operation, 
can yield but partial and unsatisfactory results. The 
cures that have been made through the wise adminis- 
tration of medicine, have often been as wonderful as 
those made by impressional methods ; but they have 
not been so regarded, because there was nothing ap- 
parently mysterious connected with them. The means 
used could be seen, handled and tasted. The method 
is better understood, and is regarded as a science, and 
there is nothing in its use to appeal to superstitious 
thought, and, therefore, such cures have passed un- 
noticed. 

Curing Disease by the Laying on of Hands. 

The curing of disease by the touch, or by the laying 
on of hands, has been practiced for many centuries and 
in many lands. Cures that have been effected by this 
means, have always been regarded as more or less won- 
derful. In more remote times, such cures were looked 
upon as miracles. In the present day they are passed 
over as unexplained mysteries. There seems to be 
nothing really worthy of notice in the simple method 
used by those who attempt to cure disease in this way. 
They place their hands upon the sick, and perhaps 
speak some words of incantation, of hope, or of prayer, 
and the disease yields, seemingly, to the wish of the 
healer. But this method, simple as it may seem, em- 
braces a two-fold means of restoration, which brings 
into active co-operation two different modes of increas- 
ing the nervo vitality. The first, is the impressional 



146 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

influence, which, by inspiring faith and hope, places 
the nervous system in a condition to receive an influx 
of electric life from the electricity of the atmosphere. 
The second, is the supply of nerve force, which the en- 
feebled patient receives, through the operation of the 
law of equilibrium, from the healer. 

Those who succeed best in curing disease by the 
laying on of hands, are in the positive vital condition. 
Having a plus amount of nerve force, they can impart 
it to those who are deficient in it. Those who are in 
the negative vital condition may use this method and 
succeed with it sometimes ; but when they do, the 
cause is referable entirely to the impression that is 
made upon the mind of the patient. Any one who 
recognizes the atomic disturbance of the nerve fluid, 
when pressure is made on some part of the body, is 
in the positive vital condition, as compared with one 
who feels nothing but the pressure. If A has a plus 
amount of nervo vitality, and B less, A is in a condi- 
tion to impart to B a supply of nerve force, that is al- 
ready prepared for his use. For example : If A, who 
has eighty per cent, of the vital principle, places his 
hands upon B, who has only fifty per cent., the law of 
equilibrium will pass the vital principle from. A to B ; 
and, in proportion as it does, B will receive from A 
additional vitality. If those who are skeptical as to 
this means of imparting or distributing the vital torce, 
will place themselves in the positive vital condition, 
and put their hands in the palms of one who is in the 
negative vital condition, they will soon be convinced 
of the operation of this law. They will sensibly feel 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I47 

the loss of the vital principle, which has been taken 
from them and imparted to another, in the debility 
which will result from the experiment. 

There was living in the State of Iowa, some years 
ago, an unlettered man, who labored for his daily bread. 
This man accidently discovered that he could, by 
applying his hands to the bodies of persons who 
were sick and in pain, relieve or cure them. The 
cures he performed in this way attracted so many pa- 
tients to him that he gave up his business, and did 
nothing but attend to the sick. His fame, as a healer, 
increased, and he removed to a city and erected a hotel 
for the accommodation of the patients who came to 
him, not only from the States, but also from foreign 
lands. After a few years his power to heal by this 
means began to fail, and he died prematurely, from the 
loss of the vitality which he, from time to time, had 
imparted to others. 

This man, when he was in a condition to heal the 
sick by this method, was also in a condition to ac- 
quire positive self-control. If he had understood his 
condition, and known how to utilize it, he would have 
been much more successful in effecting cures, and could 
have used this method without exhausting his own 
nerve supply. He could have maintained his positive 
vital condition, by following the directions for control- 
ling thought, regularly once a day. By this means he 
would have promoted an influx of the electricity of 
the atmosphere, to supply the nerve waste, and thus 
could have kept up his full momentum of nerve force. 
As he had no more control over the forces of his being 



148 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

than others have, the nerve force was not regained, 
and he died from nervous exhaustion. 

The operation of this law, in the distribution of nervo 
vitaHty, is so certain, that a person who. only approxi- 
mates the state of accord, can, by placing his hands 
on the head of another, who has not so much nervo 
vitality, and keeping them there a few minutes, relieve 
the headache. Pain in any other part of the body can 
be relieved or assuaged by holding the hands over the 
pain for a few minutes, and then making passes down- 
ward, in quick succession, over the body. On the 
other hand, if the person who makes the passes is lack- 
ing in nervo vitality, as compared with the person upon 
whom they are made, the effect will be to increase the 
pain, rather than to allay it. 

If persons who find themselves to be in a high state of 
accord, would possess themselves of positive self-control, 
they would to-day— if they were actuated by the same 
desire to do good — perform cures as wonderful as many 
of those performed by the apostles. The same natural 
and spiritual law which enabled them to go about do- 
ing good, will enable others who labor under like favor- 
able conditions, to do good also. The law remains 
unchanged, and the same conditions, and like motives, 
will bring it into operation, with the same result. 

How Departed Spirits are Seen. 

Even in this enlightened age there is a belief that 
departed spirits do sometimes revisit the earth. The 
strange phenomena which is occasionally presented by 
the reproduction of the impressions that have been 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. I49 

made upon memory is, no doubt, the cause of this be- 
Hef. Memory is to the intelligible development and 
activity of the other faculties of the mind, what the 
stomach is to the growth and activity of the other 
organs of the body. The persons and things that we 
see impress their image upon memory. These images 
remain photographed, as it were, upon this faculty of 
the mind, although we may be unconscious of their 
existence for years at a time. Some circumstance 
may then recall themi, and they are brought again to 
our recognition. We have the power to bring these 
impressions forward negatively, by mental effort, so 
that we are able to describe the image thus placed be- 
fore us. We cannot, however, see the image thus re- 
called by mental effort, as plainly as we can see it 
Avhen it is recalled by the presence of the person or 
thing that first impressed it. 

Occasionally, the forces of the mind and body as- 
sume a condition that causes thought, unconsciously, 
to bring forward these images photographed on mem- 
ory, in a positive manner, so that we can see them as 
plainly as if the person or thing that first made the 
impression was actually present. The impression thus 
reproduced has seemed so lifelike and real, that the 
person recalling the image, thus unconsciously, has be- 
lieved he saw before him, as a reality, the thing re- 
called. The image thus presented is usually that of 
some absent or departed friend. Friends long dead 
have been seen in this way, as plainly as they were 
seen when living, and the superstitious have sincerely 
believed that the dead could revisit the earth and 



150 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-CONTROL. 

hold communion with them. This reproduction, 
through the power of unconscious thought, of the im- 
pressions that have been made upon memory, no doubt 
underHes the behef in ghosts or spirits.- That this is 
the true theory of this odd phenomena can be demon- 
strated. Any person who possesses the power of 
positive self-control can, at will, reproduce consciously 
from memory, the image of any friend at a distance, or 
the image of a friend long dead, and can see them as 
plainly as if they were really yresent. This theory 
has been demonstrated many times by psychological 
experiment. We have had many subjects, who in a 
conscious, waking, natural state, have thus seen dis- 
tant and departed friends, and conversed with them 
as naturally as if they were really before them. 

Psychic law, in its co-operation with natural law, 
will, sooner or later, explain all mysteries, and under- 
mine all superstitions, if we will but investigate it 
earnestly and patiently. If, through this little book, 
we shall have succeeded in creating an interest in its 
investigation ; or, if we shall have succeeded in making 
this investigation easier for those already interested, 
we shall feel repaid for writing it. 



THE END. 



PRIMAL MAN; 



AND THE 



SCIENCE OF 

SELF-CONTROL, 

PSYCHOLOGY. 



AND 



iVIKSMERISM 



B. BROWN^WILLIAMS, M. D. 



MEADVILLE, PA.: 

TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

1887. 



71 



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ANNOUNCEMENT. 

This Book will be sent by Mail, post-paid, on receipt of 
THE Price, $2.00. Address. WILLIAMS & CO.. Post- 
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